Under the Rising Spring
by RayneAurelie
Summary: His journey of redemption was far from over, but he knew that she was meant to be a part of it. Perhaps he had been away long enough. After all, she had been waiting for him all this time, and he wasn't afraid to be involved anymore. SasuSaku. Blank Period Headcanon. M for NSFW scenes.
1. Homecoming

Hello!

Is it just me or is any (probably every) Sasusaku fan curious about what the hell happens during the dubbed 'blank period' between Naruto the last, the shindens, and Boruto the movie? Like seriously, when and how do Sasuke and Sakura get married, and conceive Sarada? That cheeky Kishi… I'm sure he knows.

Anyway, I've had this idea swirling around in my little head for a while, so I thought I would finally write them down in story form! Also, is anyone else freaking excited about the new Boruto anime ending and the fact that they are animating gaiden?

I don't plan on this being super long, maybe up to ten chapters in total, but I hope you will read and enjoy it!

* * *

 **Under the Rising Spring**

* * *

His journey of redemption was far from over, but he knew that she was a part of it. Perhaps he had been away long enough. After all, she had been waiting for him all this time, and he wasn't afraid to be involved anymore.

* * *

Chapter I: Homecoming

' _You know Sasuke, Sakura still talks about you. We were just talking about how you are still protecting the village even though you aren't here. She made a funny comment about how you were like a one-man police force, and how she remembered when you were younger, you wanted to join the Konoha police force! How did –'_

Sasuke looked up at the sky. She really still remembered that? A small smile graced is dark features. Maybe he had been away from the village long enough.

He wasn't afraid to be involved anymore.

He changed course, heading towards Konohagakure.

* * *

Long eyelashes fluttered open, revealing bright emerald green iris's beneath them as the bright rays of the sun illuminated a pink haired kunoichi's face, beckoning the sleeping young woman to stir from her slumber. Sakura brought an arm over her face, not quite wanting to wake up yet. She was dreaming about _him_ again.

Sighing and willing herself to wake up and forget the pleasant fantasy world of her slumber, Sakura stretched out her limbs as she beckoned her body to awaken. She swung her feet over the edge of her bed, staring straight at her messy bathroom in front of her, thinking that a shower should help her get moving for the day.

She had a long shift awaiting her at the hospital today. Still feeling exhausted in general, she lazily thought that maybe she was overworking herself a little bit. After all, her and Ino were well into a year of their Children's mental clinic opening, and when she wasn't at the mental clinic, she was taking long shifts at the hospital. She was in high demand after all, being known as one of the best medical nin in the ninja world. Her healing skills were next to none save her master Tsunade's, but even so it was speculated that her skills had even surpassed hers.

It had been almost three years now since Sasuke had left. Sakura was nearing twenty, her birthday always coming in the first of Spring after winter has finally loosened it's grasp. It was fairly warm for a February morning. Sakura had grown maybe two inches in height, but not like Naruto. He had shot up like a weed, now towering over her short form. Her rosette pink hair had been kept short (but shorter than Sasuke had probably last seen it) like it had been for the past few years. It laid more straight and flat, her bangs grown out and softly swept to the left side. Her ninja gear was a red one piece, reminiscent of her genin days, the fabric coming mid thigh with slits up to her hips and a high collar with white trim. It was sleeveless, and she wore a wide black belt wrapped around her torso with it. She also wore short black tights that were also mid thigh length, and pink elbow and knee protectors. She bandaged her right thigh where she had a kunai pouch strapped, and standard ninja sandals with a small heel.

Looking at the time and realizing that her shift started in ten minutes, she quickly grabbed a soldier pill swallowing it down quickly as they never tasted all that great and slipped on her sandals. She told herself (probably in vain) she was going to eat a real meal at some point today, before hastily slipping out her apartment door and locking it behind her.

Konoha hospital was as busy as ever. The moment Sakura stepped foot into the building that had been destroyed and rebuilt after Pein's attack, the smell of alcohol and disinfectant invaded her senses in a strong wave. In a weird way though, the familiar smell relaxed Sakura as this setting was completely in her element. Medic ninja were running about, greeting Sakura as they passed by heading to their duties. She knew Shizune who had been on the graveyard shift would be on the third floor, so she immediately headed up that way. Her own office was on the same floor as well. Her heels clacked loudly on the steps as she went one step at a time up to the next floor.

"Ah! Sakura-chan! You're here!" Shizune excitedly greeted. For having worked a graveyard shift, she was way too energetic Sakura thought. "A three man squad just got back from a mission. No major injuries, so they will just need the standard health assessment." Way to get right down to business. Clearly Shizune was glad to pass on this duty to Sakura immediately.

"Morning Shizune-san. I will go and take a look at them in a moment then." Sakura replied, heading for her office. Sakura's office was nothing special in particular, being fairly small in size. She had small wooden desk that was completely covered in papers, a book shelf over filled with various medical knowledge to the right along the wall, and a small sofa along the wall closest to the entrance that was far to small to sleep on, but she often found herself napping on it anyway. Her favorite thing about her office was the nice big window in the back behind her desk, and her white medical coat hung by the entrance of the door. She gave her office a quick glance over, noticing it was just as messy as she had left it and grabbed her white coat, ready to head down to the second floor to perform the health assessments for the ninja team Shizune had just informed her of. She gave Shizune a quick wave goodbye as she slipped passed her office.

Arriving on the second floor, she headed straight to the receptionist desk to grab the medical records she would need. The receptionist was crescent in shape, and was decorated much the same as the other floor, being white in color and decorated with small plants and news magazines.

"Ah! Haruno-san! Good morning!" A dark haired woman greeted.

"Nanami-san! Good morning!" Sakura chimed back, trying to sound a little more lighthearted than she felt. Nanami had clearly known Sakura was coming and had already gotten medical records together neatly clipped to a clipboard.

"Here are the medical records for the team that just checked in." Nanami said, holding the clipboard out for Sakura to take. Nodding, Sakura softly grabbed the records out of the receptionists hand. Sakura was not particularly acquainted with Nanami, but she could always rely on her to do her job, and enjoyed the light and polite conversations they did have. Nanami was a simple girl, but in some ways, Sakura envied the way she would talk about her boyfriend. He would even show up with flowers sometimes for their special days and occasions.

She turned her heel, giving Nanami a grin before heading towards room two where the three male ninja were housed. Sakura lifted a quizzical brow as she could hear the incessant bickering before she even got to the door, but it also immediately reminded her of a certain dark haired someone and a yellow haired knucklehead that once often did that too. She knocked on the door, signaling she was entering and the room fell silent.

"Wow! We got Haruno-san today!" One of them stated excitedly. upon seeing the pink haired ninja open the door and enter their assessment room. The three of them were young. Each were donning the standard attire for Konoha Ninja, black pants and shirt with a green flak. One of them was clearly a Hyuuga, his hair somewhat reminiscent of the late Neji, coming just past his shoulders. He wore his Ninja headband loosely around his neck. The second one had short dark hair, wearing his ninja forehead protector tied around the bicep of his right am. The third and the one clearly excited by her appearance had his brown hair in a longer ponytail, his forehead protector tied around his forehead much like Naruto always did.

Sakura was a little startled at the enthusiasm about her being their medical assessor. Then again, rumors were fairly common about her. "H-hi! I'm just here to do your health check up! According to the initial report, your mission was successful and you didn't sustain any major injuries." Sakura began, flipping through the records on her clipboard trying to hide her embarassment. These Ninja were not much younger than herself.

"Yeah we nailed the guy! Tadashi over here got careless and got a couple cuts from a kunai though." The ninja with the ponytail stated with a grin, pointing at the Hyuuga. He clearly did not seem pleased.

"Okay, well…" Sakura looked at the paperwork so she could see what the ponytail ninja's name was. "Kobe-san is it? I'll take a look at you first if you just want to take a seat there on the edge of the bed." The ninja immediately did as she asked,almost too enthusiastically. He sat down with an audible 'pat' and a big grin on his face. Sakura would use her chakra to sense anything unusual and do a quick glance over she decided. As she bent down to examine his chakra flow, the previously boisterous Ninja began to stutter.

"S-so Haruno-san, are you seeing anyone?" Sakura's eyes snapped up at the mention of it. The other two ninja who had clearly gotten into a conversation suddenly fell silent upon hearing their teammate actually bring it up.

"Huh?" She said, realizing she had said that without actually meaning to, but the question just caught her off guard. Sakura could hear one of them whisper an obvious 'I told you so' to the other.

"Well I mean, I've heard you're not really seeing anyone so I was hoping you might actually go out to eat with me sometime maybe…" He trailed off with an embarrassed laugh. Sakura was no stranger to being asked out on a date these days, but nevertheless it still was somewhat of a shock every time a male mentioned it. She tried her best do give the young ninja a polite smile, fully intending to turn the poor guy down, the same as she had done for every other time she got asked on a date.

"I'm very flattered, honestly, but I'm actually kind of focusing on other things right now, so right now really isn't a good time." She could see Kobe's face fall immediately in disappointment and perhaps a little embarrassment at getting rejected, making her feel bad and want to try and offer up a little bit better of an explanation, but as she opened her mouth to do so suddenly she felt _his_ chakra. Her eyebrows furrowed in disbelief and her face had a momentary look of shock before she regained her composure. Just as quickly as she had felt it though, it was suddenly gone. Chalking it up to her imagination though, she turned back to Kobe-san, offering up small talk and resuming her work.

"Uh sorry about that..." Sakura trailed off, clearly noticing that the three ninja had seen her momentary facial expression. "I just thought I might have forgotten something but it's not a big deal." She lied.

* * *

The gates of Konohagakure hadn't changed one bit since he had left, Sasuke observed as he neared them. It was a sight he had not seen in a very long time, but in some ways, it brought him some familiar comfort, coupled with anxiety. He hadn't seen any of his old comrades in a long time, but even more so, he wasn't really sure how they would react or how the civilians in the village would feel about his return.

As he passed through the gate, he immediately suppressed his chakra as he did not want to alert anyone as to his arrival just yet. Memories of _that_ night he left to pursue vengeance and the day he left to begin his journey of redemption immediately flooded to his mind, especially a certain someone involved in both of them. That pink haired kunoichi was positively _annoying_ in the way she had begun to plague his mind over time while he was on his travels.

He couldn't help but to wonder what she was like now.

Their relationship had been long distant at best, and he didn't communicate much with her except for things he deemed important. When she was kidnapped though, he had rushed to her aid, angry anyone would use _her_ to get to him, but she certainly didn't end up being a damsel in distress. All he managed was to take out a few enemies before making sure she was safe, but he also realized that he wasn't ready to see her yet at that point either.

Knowing that the first thing he was going to have to do was report to the Hokage, he immediately headed towards his office, knowing a very efficient way to get there while avoiding the main hustle and bustle of Konoha. Stealthily he jumped upon the Hokage tower's roof, and slipped quietly in the back door. He trodded quietly to the entrance of the office, to find the Hokage and his former teacher with his nose buried in one of his pervy books. He hadn't looked like he had aged a day Sasuke noted, except for the dark bags under his eyes which he suspected were the result of being Hokage.

"It's been a while, Sasuke." Kakashi greeted, shutting his book with an audible poof of the paper being forced together. He looked up at the last Uchiha in front of him. "I'm surprised you didn't inform me of your intention to return with a hawk, but then again…" he trailed off.

The young man in front of him was most definitely Sasuke, but he like Naruto had grown quite a bit while away on his travels. His hair had grown long as well, Kakashi noted and was tied back with a navy sash. His clothes were dirty and somewhat tattered, an obvious testament to the lifestyle the Uchiha had lived. He donned a tattered beige poncho and wore a black tunic with grey chest plate, grey pants, and his legs were bandaged with his ninja sandals. Surprisingly though, his face seemed lighter.

Sasuke was about to reply to his former teacher, when a certain yellow haired obnoxious knucklehead ninja came barreling through the door. Figures that suppressing his chakra probably wouldn't of gone unnoticed by him for very long. Sasuke couldn't help but to hide a small smirk.

"Sasuke!" He growled "I can't believe you are back and didn't say anything you bastard!" Naruto had a fierce look in his eyes but a grin that was so big n his face it almost looked painful. Naruto had changed too, Sasuke noticed as he had grown tall, maybe being just a few centimeters shy of him, his hair now cut short and his face more mature. He wore a black jacket with his sleeves rolled and orange pants. He also noticed his bandaged right arm, the result of Tsunade's work no doubt. Sasuke couldn't get a word in before Naruto started excitedly blurting out the next thing.

"Wait till I tell Sak-" Sasuke immediately shot the blonde his famous death glare as a challenge to shut the hell up in which he did, muttering a 'never mind I guess you will' under his breath.

"Dobe." Sasuke replied, his face softening. "I'm not here to see you." Naruto's face fell in utter disappointment as his shoulders fell, proceeding to sulk. Sasuke was glad that his best friend had not changed one bit.

Kakashi couldn't help but feel a little reminiscent at watching the two insult each other the moment they came in contact. However, he was rather surprised at the forward remark from the Uchiha that Naruto clearly didn't catch.

"Well fine but you have to go get ramen with me!" Naruto announced, with a sudden change of mood, his right hand in a fist.

"Naruto! You can't just go interrupting everyone else just because your wife is away. You can catch up with Sasuke when he is done with his debriefing." Kakashi suggested, Naruto seemed like he totally ignored Kakashi but clearly got the message.

"And who's fault is that?" Naruto griped in reply, stalking out of the office with a quick wave goodbye.

Sasuke still hadn't actually congratulated the guy on his marriage to Hinata yet, something he did mean to mention at some point.

Kakashi sighed. "In your last message you wrote 'Otsutsuki'." He stated, getting right down to business.

"Yeah. There are still a couple things that concern me regarding the Otsutsuki from the fourth ninja war." Sasuke replied. "I've been beginning to look into it but…"

"I see. I can tell you're concerned, especially with the events of the moon falling to the earth. Nara Shikamaru mentioned the name several times in both is oral an written report as he was the lead ninja on the team we sent to the moon to investigate." Kakashi informed.

"I can't say I am entirely surprised as I did have my suspicions. I had read some texts about the Otsutsuki clan on the moon, and that event almost seemed a preconceived notion." There was a curt seriousness in Sasuke's voice. Kakashi could definitely tell that this bothered his former student. "Can't say I'm surprised that Naruto was involved in all of that either."

"Sakura-chan was involved in that incident to you know." Kakashi stated. "I guess she helped Naruto realize his feelings and encouraged Hinata to pursue hers. It apparently led to them being able to defeat Otsutsuki Toneri who had orchestrated the moon falling to the Earth. "

"Hn. That sounds like something Sakura would do." Kakashi could detect the slight change in tone when Sasuke mentioned the pinkette. His tone almost insinuated that he was proud, despite the stoic and aloof nature the Uchiha portrayed.

"I'm assuming that you aren't really planning on staying here very long, are you Sasuke?"

The Uchiha was quiet for a moment before responding. "I don't know how long I am going to stay, I have some things here that I should take care of so I can continue to move forward. I still don't know that I will ever be able to make this place a permanent home for me again."

"I assume you plan to resume not only your personal journey, but to investigate more things about the Otsutsuki?"

Sasuke nodded, confirming Kakashi's assumption.

"Well, regardless, you will always have a home here Sasuke... although your old place currently has tenants in it... if you give me until the end of the day I should be able to arrange something for you." Kakashi said, running his chin as if he was in deep thought. Well, maybe if the Uchiha was here for what Kakashi assumed he might be here for, Sasuke may not need his own place since a certain pinkette had her own place.

"I don't know that I will really need anything permanent." Sasuke argued. Kakashi gave a quick nod of acknowledgement.

"Well, at least something then. Sasuke, you've really done a lot of things while you've been away. I've heard various stories, and the other Kage have all mentioned you when we have convened. Your actions have not gone unnoticed."

" I don't want acknowledgement for them, but what I have done probably still isn't enough to make up for my mistakes." The Uchiha brooded.

"I hope that you might someday forgive yourself Sasuke. Maybe you should start by honestly answering your feelings and Sakura's."

There was an audible silence as Sasuke was not really sure what to say next, but it seemed Kakashi was ready to dismiss him.

"When I have a place for you to stay arranged, I will let you know. In the meantime, I know Naruto and Sakura are definitely going to want to see you. Sakura has… missed you." Kakashi finally stated, and with that, he opened up his pervy book, clearly ignoring the towers of paperwork that littered his desk for the time being. As Sasuke turned to leave, knowing full well that Naruto probably was going to bother him sooner than later, he watched Shikamaru walk in with another stack of paper, making the silver haired Hokage groan.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru sighed upon both seeing the Uchiha and the fact that Kakashi was slacking off on the paperwork, again. "Yo Sasuke! It's been a while.

"Shikamaru." Sasuke acknowledged, before disappearing. He knew he wouldn't have to be concerned about Shikamaru opening his mouth to anyone about him being home. Based on what he could sense, Sakura was at the hospital, and she would probably be there for a while. Even while travelling abroad, he had heard that she helped run both the hospital here and a children's mental clinic. He would find somewhere to rest and wait until he could approach her he decided.

As he settled upon Kakashi's stone face engraved on the mountain, he noticed that Konoha had indeed expanded quite a bit since the last time he had been here. There was barely any evidence left that the village had seen destruction brought by both Pein and the ravages of the fourth great ninja war.

"Naruto." Sasuke greeted upon hearing his friend land beside him. He had shown up just as Sasuke had expected him to.

"Konoha has grown quite a bit, hasn't it?" Naruto stated, confirming Sasuke's observation. "The peace has brought a lot of new people here."

"Hn."

"I'm surprised you're back! Probably about time too, because guys are doting over Sakura all the time and she is oblivious to it, and works a lot, probably too much and-"

"Shut up Naruto." Sasuke snapped, sounding a little harsher than he probably meant to come off. Normally Naruto would retort to that with something childish, but those were memories from back in the day. It seemed that they had both definitely matured in that sense as Naruto showed only a brief look of irritation on his face before seeming to let it slide.

"She's missed you." Naruto replied, clearly tying to not act bothered by the Uchiha's reaction. There was a short silence between the two.

"Congratulations. I never told you. On your wedding. Though I'm not sure why anyone would marry a half-wit like you." Sasuke finally said, offering both his condolences and an insult in one like the Uchiha would often do. Maybe being mature was just a little overrated. He still enjoyed insulting the idiot.

"At least I had the balls to tell a girl I liked her!" Naruto fired back, clearly riled up and jabbing at the Uchiha something everyone seemed to know, yet seemed ignored.

"That girl has had a thing for you since before you even noticed dobe."

Naruto didn't really know how to reply to that in a way that probably wouldn't make the Uchiha straight up punch him in the face, but if he did say what he wanted to, he would say that Sakura was the same, although Sasuke knew it and hadn't really done anything about it.

"Well, I don't see Sakura that often these days… I don't get it! When I do I always invite her to ramen, even if Hinata is with me but she always says no!" Naruto complained, instead trying to lighten the mood and joke around.

"Naruto, you're still pretty much newly weds." At the mention of that, Naruto's face went red as he chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head again, an odd habit of his. At least he seemed to understand what Sasuke had implied.

"Well true! Hinata is seriously amazing! Come to think of it, most everyone has kinda paired off! Like Sai is with Ino of all people, and Shikamaru has been dating Temari, and-" Naruto suddenly stopped mid sentence his facial expression quickly changing to one of absolute excitement. "Ah Hinata-chan is home! Bye Sasuke! You owe me a sparring match later!" and with that the yellow haired ninja disappeared leaving a slightly bewildered Sasuke who couldn't help but form a small smirk with his mouth. It was odd to see Naruto so dedicated to something else besides his fighting skills and ramen. Maybe he had changed a little.

This is also what he meant by them still being newlyweds.

Turning his attention back to Sakura, she was still clearly at the hospital, and he had no idea how long she was going to be there. For the first time since he had walked through the gates of Konoha , the weight of his anxiety about actually seeing her settled in his gut making him feel sick in a way that he was not all that familiar with, and because of that he hated it. What would be the best way to approach her?

All he could think about was the way she blushed when she offered to go with him again but was sad when he told her not this time, and when he poked her forehead in the same manner his older brother always did to him affectionately and he told her maybe next time, her green eyes lit up in surprise and the red flush to her cheeks immediately returned. That look on her face has been etched into his mind ever since. That was the most direct he could be with his feelings about her at the time.

Well, at a minimum, he was going to have to wait till she was done at the hospital to approach her. By then he should be able to come up with something. He was Uchiha Sasuke after all.

* * *

Sakura sighed, happy to be stepping foot outside of Konoha hospital's building. What had started out as a fairly easy day quickly turned into a whirlwind of disaster with a few construction workers from a neighboring small settlement getting injured. One of them had severed his spine in several places and it took several painstaking hours of surgery fixing it just so the man would ever have a chance of walking again.

She was exhausted, and probably in need of a real hot cooked meal, though she had half a mind to just go home, take another soldier pill and pass out for the evening. It wasn't even that late yet but it sure felt like it might as well have been.

Quietly strolling down the main street marketplace, the aromas of freshly cooked food filled her senses making her stomach grumble loudly, almost loud enough to embarrass her. She was lost in her own thoughts until the sound of her name being called snapped her out of it and grabbed her attention.

"Hey forehead!" Ino called out to her. Sakura found her with Sai. They were holding hands. The two of them had grown up a bit in the last few years as well. Ino's hair was ridiculously long, wearing a midriff exposing outfit still in her usual purple color. Her top was cropped and buttoned up along the whole front, and she wore a long purple skirt with a slit and black shorts and netted tights underneath. She also wore purple elbow protectors. Sai's hair was slightly longer, and he also wore a midriff exposing outfit that was simple with a cropped black zipped up jacket, black pants, and he carried his signature beast scroll on his back.

"Ino pig!" Sakura replied, their affectionate name insults used in greeting. She forced a smile onto her face, but she couldn't help but feel a small pang of jealousy over Ino being so happy, and with Sai of all people. It was almost comical in a sense as they were total opposites, but they seemed really happy together once they finally admitted it.

"Hey Ugly." Sai also greeted, acknowledging the pink haired kunoichi.

"Did you just get done at the hospital? We are meeting Shikamaru, Temari, and Choji for food! You have to be hungry why don't you come with?!"

It was sweet the way Ino, and really most everyone offered to invite her to things. Especially with most everyone beginning to pair off, it seemed like they all felt obligated to make an effort to make sure that Sakura wasn't alone all the time when they weren't working, sparring, or out on missions.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm going to have to skip out this time. Crazy day at the hospital and I have to be at the children's clinic tomorrow." Sakura replied, offering up an excuse to just slip off and go home and avoid being social for the night.

"You work too much Sakura! Working like a mad woman isn't going to make Sasuke-kun come home any faster you know!"

Sakura's face immediately flushed. "I-It's not about Sasuke-kun! I mean I'm not anything special to him or anything! I don't know why you would even bring that up!" She denied, waving her hands for added expressions. Sakura couldn't help but feel a little disappointment at her own words though as her heart sunk a little at her denial of her feelings.

"Well, your loss I guess! Make sure you eat something Sakura! I mean it! Men want a curvaceous woman! Otherwise this pig will stuff your face with food!" As if to reinforce Ino's words, Sakura's stomach loudly grumbled again, causing the pinkette some embarrassment.

"I will. Bye Ino, Bye Sai!" Sakura assured her blonde friend, before waving goodbye. Now really all she wanted to do was seriou sly justgo home and pass out for the night, especially since she was now feeling a little more depressed than usual about a certain someone.

Sighing and ignoring her grumbling stomach, she headed straight for her apartment. It wasn't far from here luckily, and she liked that her neighborhood was quiet, but when the marketplace was busy she could still hear the sounds of the hustling and bustling of the place. She'd been moved out from her parents house for about a year now. This time of year she really liked listening to the melodies of the bugs that are active at night.

Turning down her dimly lit street, she walked with her head staring at the ground as she was lost in her thoughts. Where was Sasuke now she wondered? She had been so disappointed yet so glad that when she was kidnapped and managed to escape that he had actually been there as he left evidence of him taking out some of the criminals. Clearly he cared enough to come after her, which made her happy, but he didn't want to see her.

When she looked up thinking that her apartment door was probably in sight by now, she saw a dark figure sitting on her doorstep that immediately made her stop in her tracks. Her first instinct was to go in the defensive, but something about the way the stranger just sat there, all aloof made her instincts of defense simmer down as if her body was telling her something her mind necessarily wasn't.

Clearly the stranger recognized her though as he stood up calmly, part of his face becoming illuminated by the small front door light of her apartment.

Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief. Okay now her mind was just playing cruel tricks on her and she probably needed some serious sleep. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head, thinking that when she opened her eyes again the illusion will have hopefully gone away, but while doing so she didn't hear the stranger quietly walk up to her.

This time when Sakura opened her eyes her mouth fell with disbelief. Either she had officially lost it, or Sasuke was standing right in front of her.

"Sakura, I'm home." The familiar, yet matured voice said.

Suddenly all of the feelings she had done her best to keep to herself and ignore hit her in a merciless rush all at once, the weight of it on her heart almost crippling as she burst into tears. All of the waiting, wondering, and missing the man in front of her all of a sudden became unbearable. At the same time though, it all of a sudden felt like a big weight had been lifted off her shoulders just seeing him actually physically there, standing in front of him.

"Shannaro…" She sobbed, her face buried in her hands. She had promised herself that when she did see him she wasn't going to cry, that she was stronger than that, but clearly she had only been fooling herself as it only took mere seconds for the waterworks to start on their own.

* * *

Thank you for reading and I hope you liked the first chapter! I tried really hard to describe and convey the the characters feelings. I wanted them to seem a little more grown up.

Anyway, I hope you will be excited for the next chapter, and I would love your review on this chapter!


	2. Reunited

I really don't have much to say here on the authors commentary this chapter… Thanks for all the reviews and follows/favorites I received!

However I read this hilarious tumblr post about how Sasuke doesn't know how to people, and if you are a person who actually analyzes the contexts and hidden meanings behind panels in mangas you will probably also find this hilarious. But seriously, this explains a side of Sasuke that is seriously all too true. You can read it on a tumblr blog by theladyeighth. It's worth it.

Naruto and it's characters are not mine and are respectfully Kishimoto's.

* * *

Chapter II: Reunited

* * *

Sasuke honestly had no idea what to expect as a reaction from Sakura when he decided that just revealing himself in a forward manner would be very much his style of approach to the pinkette.

Would she react in anger flying a punch at him with that monstrous strength of hers that he's seen put a mortified expression on Naruto more than once? She probably wasn't that irrational for the most part he conceded. Would she run away? Maybe. Would she worship him like a ridiculous love struck idiot? That one was also a maybe if she was still a genin. Sasuke did have to give her credit on her maturity and the extraordinary ninja the woman in front of him had become. She had made it so he couldn't ignore her .

He watched the expression on her now more mature and feminine face change from bewilderment, to disbelief, and then to shock only to be followed by cursing and sobbing in what seemed like a matter of seconds. She was within arms reach and he could sense the strong tension between and watched her shoulders heave as she bawled.

Sasuke hated when she bawled. Deep down, even when he was lost in his quest for revenge there was a gut wrenching feeling that never failed to appear at the sight of her crying. It had made him hesitant, and even angry in the past once.

Could he blame her for reacting like this? The fact was, he couldn't. He honestly couldn't even justify why this woman was still so obviously in love with him that it hurt that much. Well, that was actually a lie. He did know because he's had to admit some things to himself, and all he wanted to do now was comfort her. He wanted to make the tears stop.

Tentatively, he reached his right arm out, quietly stepping closer to Sakura and embraced her in a hug. An action that clearly caught the woman off guard as she immediately went still and seemed like she had stopped breathing the moment he had embraced her to his chest. He could feel an unfamiliar heat rise to his face and his heart began to beat rapidly at their close proximity, nervousness settling in.

"S-Sasuke?" She squeaked.

"Sakura..." he paused. "I'm sorry. I made you cry."

Sakura was hiccupping from her sobbing fit, but clearly the embrace had done what Sasuke had intended. She stopped crying. They stood there in silence like that for a while. Sasuke noticed that she was now considerably shorter than him now, as he was easily a head taller than her. Had he really grown that much? She seemed so small and fragile wrapped in his arm and against his body, even though he knew that was certainly not the case.

This was the first time that he had ever allowed himself to hold someone so intimately. Sakura had relaxed in his embrace, her muscles seeming less tense as she rested her forehead against his right shoulder. Every self loathing part of Sasuke wanted to deny that this didn't feel right, but somehow it did.

After a while in silence, Sakura gently nudged herself away, signaling her wanting out of the awkward yet comfortable embrace. Sasuke complied, albeit a little hesitantly, unwrapping his arm and letting it rest at his side again. He was slightly curious as to what the pinkette's next intention was. He observed as she drew in a deep breath, and exhaled it slowly, her demeanor immediately shifting into a pleasant one.

He watched as she happily and almost childishly skipped over to her apartment door, as if her previous mood had never existed. It was intriguing, and somewhat unlike Sakura he thought.

"Hey." Sakura began softly, her gaze intense as Sasuke turned and met her eyes with his with matching intensity. The soft warm colored light outside her front door really emphasized the beautiful features that Sakura had matured into and Sasuke could feel that same nervousness well up in his chest that felt satisfying in a really odd way. "Are you hungry or anything? Do you… maybe want to come in for a tea?" She asked shyly. Sasuke relaxed. This was a familiar side of Sakura he knew.

"Yeah actually, I'd like that."

He could see a rose colored blush on Sakura's face as clear as day when he accepted her invitation, and her body language told him that she was definitely nervous. She also seemed like she didn't entirely expect him to say yes. He kind of liked that he still had that affect on her. He wanted to relish that.

Sakura turned to unlock her apartment door, allowing Sasuke a fully clothes backside view of her figure. He took that moment to stare, his eyes lingering a little longer than he wanted to allow at the curve of her hips that he noticed were now more pronounced which also accentuated her smaller waist.

Door unlocked, Sakura proceeded to step into her apartment. It wasn't until she began to move from Sasuke's view that he snapped out of his blatant staring at her backside and he reprimanded himself mentally. Had someone else been there it would have been blatantly obvious that he was staring. That was not something he had ever done.

He followed her inside as she slipped her sandals off before proceeding to find the light switch.

"Ah… Sorry my place is a mess. I've been super busy so I just haven't had the time to clean up…" She trailed off, her voice clear with a tone of embarrassment when she finally flipped on her light switch.

Messy might've been an understatement. There were scrolls, papers and book littered all over her living room, covering her coffee table and even her couch. Her bookshelf she kept in there was also in disarray. He did notice though, that she had a big window in her living room that he decided he liked. Her kitchen was at least fairly clean, but he observed that it honestly hadn't been used in a while which made him quizzical with a little concern. Was she eating properly? As a young girl she would often go on ridiculous 'diets' but she had seemed to grow out of that in the years after, especially with her rigorous training. Well… she did seem a bit more petite and slim than the last time he had seen her. She had a small two burner stove, a small fridge, as well as a short line of counters in which a sink was inserted.

Sakura had disappeared off into a hallway, audibly shutting a door that was probably to her bedroom. He heard her rummaging around for a bit as he pulled off his own sandals. She was probably trying to tidy up a few things. When she emerged from her hallway, she immediately began to neatly organize her papers and literature into neat stacks that she neatly placed by her bookshelf to clear off the coffee table and couch. He just observed her, waiting patiently in the entryway and letting her take a few minutes to tidy up. It was clear to him at this point that she probably wasn't home often, and when she was she was probably busy studying or sleeping. Most impressively though, was that she was living on her own. When he had left, she was still living with her parents.

"Sorry to make you wait! Next time I should probably make sure my place is clean." She finally said as she finished putting aside the last stack of literature by her bookshelf. Her apartment did indeed seem much more tidy.

Respectfully, Sasuke pulled off his poncho, as well as his sword Kusanagi which was fastened around his back and gently placed them by the entryway before proceeding further into Sakura's apartment. She walked off into her kitchen, pulling a kettle from the light colored wooden cabinets that had been hung above her stove and fridge. She filled it with some water before setting it on one of the stove burners to boil. When she completed that task, she again opened her cupboard to pull out a tea pot and two tea cups along with some tea bags.

Sasuke had decided to situate himself on her navy blue couch, feeling awkward in the way he should sit. He could see that Sakura was sneaking looks at him, probably to observe the attire he wore, and the fact that he hid his injured arm behind a long loose sleeve. There was an awkward silence between all the sneaky looks and silent observations.

"Your hair has really gotten long, Sasuke-kun." Sakura finally mentioned. Of all the things that could have been said, she comments on his hair? Nevertheless, it was at least the start to a conversation, even if the topic was his stupid hair.

"My hair hasn't exactly been a priority." Sasuke replied, hoping that he might find a way to change the topic to something else.

"U-uh yeah sorry! That was kind of a dumb statement. Do you… like your hair that long? I mean if you wanted to cut it or anything I'd be happy to do it for you…" Sakura offered shyly.

Okay, maybe this topic wasn't so horrible after all.

"If you want…" Sasuke trailed, mentally trying to decide how to finish the sentence but before he could, Sakura had entered the living room with a tray of tea in hand and neatly settled herself on the floor in front of the coffee table. She had a content look on her face though, so Sasuke didn't end up saying anything else.

Carefully picking up a hot tea cup, Sakura offered it to Sasuke. He reached out with his right hand to grab it, their hands coming in contact for a brief moment. His fingers felt strangely tingly at their touch, and Sakura was visibly blushing again from their contact.

"Thank you." Sasuke then brought the tea cup to his lip, tentatively taking a small sip so as to not burn his mouth. Sakura was holding her teacup between her two petite yet ridiculously strong hands as he observed her take a small sip of her own. He was able to get a good view of her face now, and thought that she looked tired.

"How is your mental clinic doing?" Sasuke asked, his attention focused on the pinkette in front of him. Her eyes lit up in surprise.

"Oh! I didn't know you knew Sasuke-kun."

"I heard a lot of things while travelling." He replied.

"Well… we get quite a few patients." Sakura began, gently setting her tea cup down. Her face fell a little at the mention of it though which made Sasuke a little disappointed that he had brought it up. "They're mostly young children who have lost their parents… but I wanted them to have somebody that could support them."

"You doing that, it's good." Sasuke stated softly.

"I just thought that… well you and Naruto didn't have anything like that so I wanted to do something different. Anyway! What about you? I'm sure you must have experience so many things while you've been gone!" Sakura said, quickly changing the topic.

"It's been a learning experience." _and lonely._ "There's a lot out there to see and different cultures to experience."

"Did you do anything in particular that you liked?"

"No, not really."

"Oh, I see…" Sakura trailed off. Sasuke realized that his replies probably made her feel like he wasn't interested in talking about it. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about it, he just didn't exactly leave to go on a joy trip.

"It wasn't exactly fun, Sakura." Sasuke admitted, deciding that he would try to elaborate. "I mostly just wandered town to town. I tried…. to do good things where I could." A small smirk came to his mouth when he thought of the perfect thing to say next. "I was kind of like a one-man police force."

Not only did Sakura blush, but her face went bright red as she nearly choked on the mouthful of tea she had. "That IDIOT!" She exclaimed hotly after gulping down her tea, clearly embarrassed. "Naruto told you! I'm going to kill him!" She threatened, her right hand in a fist. Sasuke found her flushed face and irritated scowl oddly attractive, feeling heat rising to his own face.

"You remembered that." Sasuke implied.

"Well since I was one of your ridiculous fan girls of course I did." Sakura retorted, her eyes avoiding his gaze. She was a terrible liar.

* * *

Gravity was a cruel thing when you were sleep deprived. Sakura was mentally cursing herself out for staying up so damn late the previous night, even though it was every second of sleep lost. She sat in her office at her children's mental clinic trying to go over some progress reports of a few of her patients but she was struggling just to keep her head off of her desk. Still, despite being exhausted, she couldn't help but feel elated. Sasuke was home, and he had spent the entire evening with her, listening to her, conversing with her and just being with her. They had been together until early into the morning when she finally passed out on the coffee table.

She had totally fallen asleep in the middle of telling him a story like a lightweight. It was embarrassing, but this morning she found herself cuddled up on her couch with a blanket when her alarm went off much to soon. She wasn't entirely sure how the one armed ninja had managed to move her by himself considering that picking an adult up typically required two arms, but it brought a pleasant and giddy feeling to her chest to think about it and the fact that Sasuke had even bothered to do such a thing for her. She wondered just how much that man had changed.

For once Sakura was grateful that her morning was filled with paperwork when she decided to get out for lunch. Between not eating dinner and skipping breakfast due to nearly being late for work (she had fallen back asleep after shutting off her alarm) she was starving and a soldier pill just wasn't going to cut it. Besides, she deserved to actually take a good lunch she thought.

She arrived at the marketplace, the different aromas of food invading her sense of smell, making her stomach rumble noisily. Since it was the popular time for lunch, the streets were overflowing with people as shops were trying to keep up with the huge influx of lunch orders. She politely greeted others in response to their acknowledgement as she walked straight to her favorite dango shop.

"Ah! Sakura-san! I haven't seen you in a while." An older man excitedly greeted as she entered the busy shop. This was her favorite meal spot when she did take the time to actually go out and get a meal, and it was usually filled with customers noisily chatting and eating their own food.

"Hotaru-san." Sakura greeted in reply as she strolled up to the front counter. "I would like the regular please!" She asked sweetly.

"Of course! I'll even throw in something a little special for you!" Sakura thanked the generous owner and left her payment for her food on the counter, finding a quiet corner to patiently wait for her order. Luckily the food from her favorite place never took very long to cook. Hotaru disappeared into the back kitchen to make her order.

It was only a few minutes before Sakura bid the kind man goodbye and exited the dango shop. She still had a while before she had to go back to the clinic, so she decided that a stroll and breath of fresh air might help her stay awake for the rest of the day.

Not entirely sure what had compelled her, but she thought that maybe she should stroll pass the training grounds. There was a nice walking area past it and in some ways, it made her proud to see the younger generations of ninja there learning new skills and honing the ones that they already had.

Surprised she heard two very familiar voices as both Sasuke and Naruto came into view, going at it in a sparring match of taijutsu. She stopped, mesmerized at the sight of both of them. To say that were extraordinary ninjas would be an understatement. She could hear them talking in between traded blows, but couldn't make out what they were saying.

Finishing her last bite of Dango, she knew that she had to get back to work. She noticed that Sasuke glanced over her way, in which she gave a quick shy wave to him in response to him before turning towards the direction of the mental health clinic.

* * *

"So, did you see Sakura-chan last night when she finished her shift at the hospital?" Naruto asked as he threw a punch with his right arm that was covered in bandaged wraps towards Sasuke's face, which he easily blocked, returning a punch of his own with his right arm. They had been going at this for a while, and Sasuke had enjoyed the silence while they sparred, until Naruto finally asked him the question he had been wanting to avoid. Sakura was probably going to be brought up by everyone he conceded earlier, but it didn't make him necessarily like it any more.

"I don't see how that's any of your business, Naruto." Sasuke stated as he blocked a kick to his left side, protecting his torso.

"Well it is! Sakura-chan is like my sister you know!" Naruto threw his next punch a little harder. "She still talks about you constantly! The least you can do is give her a straight answer to her feelings instead of ignoring it."

"I'm not ignoring it." Sasuke denied, throwing his next punch to match the same intensity as his sparring partner.

"Are you sure Sasuke? Because you've left her here on her own for almost three years!" Naruto threw a really hard punch this time, clearly getting riled up. Naruto never liked it much when Sasuke would dodge his questions, and it almost never failed to get him spun up. Sasuke swiftly dodged it, grabbing Naruto's right arm and using the momentum from his punch to his advantage to throw his friend flat on his back onto the hard earth below, sending dirt flying up into the air in a light cloud.

"Naruto, why do you think I'm here?" Sasuke asked rhetorically, following his statement with a scowl.

"I-" Naruto was about to retort something insulting but stopped upon realizing what the Uchiha was implying. "Wait, you came back to see Sakura?"

Sasuke sighed, as if frustrated at how slow his friend could be sometimes. He offered his hand to Naruto who was still flat on his back, helping his friend up to his feet once he had accepted it. Naruto lazily dusted himself off, a puzzled and somewhat concerned look on his face all in one.

"Idiot." Sasuke huffed. Now stuck with talking about Sakura which he had wanted to try and avoid, he just realized that he really didn't know how to talk about it. The challenges he had growing up as an adolescent to communicate his feelings openly had never changed.

"Does that mean you are going to answer her feelings seriously?" Naruto questioned, his tone becoming more serious. A short audible silence fell between the two as Naruto awaited an answer from the raven haired ninja.

"I… intend to." Sasuke finally answered.

"It's about damn time! She deserves better than you!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Irritated, Sasuke satrather ungracefully on the ground, almost as if he just plopped down, taking a drink from his bottle he had brought to stay hydrated during their spar. Naruto followed suit, sitting beside his friend who offered him a drink as well.

"Regardless of whether you deserve Sakura or not," Naruto began, after taking a sip himself from the drink Sasuke offered him, "She deserves what she wants… and after all this time, I don't think she will take anyone else but you."

"You don't think she will reject me? After I've made her wait all this time?" Sasuke said in all seriousness. Naruto snickered, eliciting an immediate death glare from the latter beside him.

"Let me get this straight, after all the shit we've been through, you of all people are worried about getting rejected by a girl?" Naruto burst out laughing, as he fell over in a hysterical fit of tears, rolling on the ground. Sasuke kicked him. "Ow okay sorry!"

Naruto sat up again, settling beside Sasuke as they watched another team of young genin training in next area over. The three of them were all bickering, like team seven once did back in their day.

"You know Sasuke, I thought Hinata rejected my feelings once too. I admitted I liked her and… well let's just say I didn't know she had rejected them for the sake of the mission we were on."

"On the moon right? Didn't Sakura go on that mission with you?" Sasuke asked, curious.

"Yeah! If it wasn't for Sakura… well, I wouldn't of ever been able to experience the happiness I feel with Hinata. She was the one who reassured me about my feelings. She told me that when you truly loved someone, your feelings don't change so easily. So, I guess what I'm saying is, I don't think Sakura's feelings have changed so easily."

"Hn." For once what Naruto said actually made Sasuke feel a little better. Sasuke once again brought his drink bottle to his lips, ready to take another gulp. Then, Naruto said the unthinkable, as if some terrible idea had suddenly dawned on him.

"Oh gross, my two best friends are going to be doing perverted things to each other!"

Sasuke immediately spit out the liquid in his mouth, slightly choking on it a little as his face immediately went red first with embarrassment, and then with obvious irritation. He had half a mind to punch that idiot straight in the face.

* * *

Sakura was pretty sure she was going to be stumbling her way home. To say she was exhausted was an understatement. She was lucky that the mental clinic had been relatively slow for the day, although being busy might have helped her stay awake a little better. Staying awake was by far the biggest struggle she had all day.

Finishing up the last of her paperwork for the day, she neatly stacked them and placed them on the corner of her wooden desk. Her office at the mental clinic was the only one of her places that wasn't an absolute mess. After some much needed sleep, she was definitely going to have to clean up her home. Well, she had least had some motivation to do so now anyway.

She hung up her doctor coat by her door, and exited her office, shutting her office door behind her. The clinic was quiet since they were now closed for the day, and it was already getting dark outside as the night was beginning to settle in. Sakura quickly checked around the building to make sure everything was neat an in order. She liked to keep her clinic clean, and the toy area where the kids would play when they came to visit was neatly organized. Satisfied, she locked up the building, stepping foot onto the streets and was ready to head home.

Strolling down the street, Sakura wondered what Sasuke was up to. Would he visit her again tonight? She didn't want to interrupt him and Naruto earlier while they were sparring since she knew that doing that was their way of showing their friendship, and in some ways it communicated what the other one felt without all the worded emotions. The fact that Sasuke had even acknowledged her and looked her way during his spar made her happy though. He even had seemed happy to see her as she waved him a quick greeting before she had returned to work from her quick lunch.

Turning the corner that led her through the main marketplace, she was snapped out of her own thoughts, the busy sounds of activity filling the night. She loved the main marketplace at night. All the lights that lit up the street just made it lively and beautiful. The smell of all the dinner foods that had been prepared and were offered made her hungry. Maybe she would pick something up to eat again before going home.

Sakura considered getting anmitsu as her tired state brought on some serious cravings for sweets, her mouth almost watering a little at the thought of sweet deliciousness satisfying her craving. When she saw how outrageous the line was for her favorite anmitsu spot was though, she inwardly groaned and sighed, deciding that although she craved sweets, it wasn't worth the wait that line was going to put her through.

One foot in front of the other, she continued on a little disappointed, deciding she would settle on just going home. Suddenly, a boisterous voice caught her attention.

"Ah! Sakura-chan!"

Sakura whipped up her head, her expression tired until her eyes widened in surprise and renewed excitement at the three ninja standing in front of her. Naruto was grinning, holding his wife's hand with Sasuke also tagging along with them.

"Naruto, Hinata-chan, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura greeted in return. It was so weird to still see Naruto and Hinata as husband and wife. It was even more weird when Naruto actually called her that. It never seemed like he was old enough to be married in the first place, and he was the first of their age group to do so.

The blush of Hinata's face was apparent, and she seemed perfectly happy holding her husband's hand. She was still in her ninja gear, wearing a purple top with a wide belt much like Sakura's, cinching her petite waist (and accentuating something else not so petite) with dark shorts, thigh high stockings and ninja sandals that were knee high. She also wore her kunai pouch where Sakura did on her thigh. Sakura remembered that it took a little convincing to get her to wear something a little more form fitting.

"We were just on our way to get some ramen at Ichiraku's. Would you like to come with us?" Hinata offered. Sakura and Hinata had quickly become good friends since her and Naruto had become a couple, often doing things with her and Ino any rare occasion she had time off. Sakura stood there with a blank expression on her face, trying to decide on what to do. She has turned down their offer the last three times, so refusing again would make her feel really guilty this time, and Sasuke was going with him… which made her really want to go but it also made her extremely anxious.

"Sakura, you look like someone just asked you something horrible." Naruto remarked, giving the pink haired kunoichi a quizzical look.

"Ah! Sorry I'm just so tired today!" Sakura replied, smiling. She was more hoping that Sasuke would give some kind of indicator of wanting her to go too.

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, and then looked back at Sakura. Sasuke was also looking at her, making her feel even more nervous. She really disliked feeling under pressure.

"Now that you mention it, you do look kind of tired…" Naruto trailed off, clearly seeming concerned for her, but also seeming like he was debating on whether he should say something else or not.

"Hinata-chan! Naruto is so lucky to have you! I would not eat ramen as much as he does! Naruto are you sure you love Hinata more than ramen?" Sakura teased, changing the subject to try and quell her anxiousness. Her being tired was not really something she wanted to discuss right now.

"O-Of course I love Hina-chan more than ramen! She's my wife!" Naruto denied, his face blushing. "What kind of question is that anyway?" He muttered.

"I don't mind eating ramen! It's what Naruto likes, and I'm happy with that!" Hinata chimed in, as if to defend her husband. Sakura giggled, eyeing Sasuke as she did so, wondering what he was thinking since he was being so quiet. She had a really hard time imagining that he was having fun being the third wheel, but she knew deep down that he did want to spend time interacting with his comrades again. She heard him audibly sigh before he finally spoke.

"You haven't had dinner yet right?" He questioned calmly, as if him asking such a thing was no big deal. "You should eat Sakura." He gave her a knowing, yet demanding look, causing the pinkette to blush.

"I-er okay. I'll come…" Sakura said, not wanting to create any kind of argument. She was secretly glad that though that Sasuke had told her to come and eat. There was just no part of her body that was going to let her say no even though her mind was screaming at her to go home and sleep. Naruto grinned, clearly overjoyed that his three favorite people were going to be all together that night.

"Yes! Well let's go! I'm starving!" He announced, going on ahead with Hinata close in tow. Sakura watched them for a second, content at seeing her best friends so happy. Sasuke began to follow them, a small smirk evident on his face too. She could tell that he was happy for Naruto and Hinata too.

"Are you coming?" He asked, stopping for a second to turn his head to the side as if to make sure that Sakura wasn't just going to run off and disappear.

"Yeah! Sorry, let's go!" Sakura replied, catching up to Sasuke, walking next to him, but mindful of his space. She couldn't help but wonder if she would ever experience the same happiness that she watched Naruto and Hinata express when together. The one she wanted that with was frustratingly right beside her.

* * *

How _annoyingly_ oblivious was this pink haired woman beside him? While Sasuke could hear hushed whispering about his obvious freedom and return to Konoha as he was looked upon judgmentally, nothing made him inwardly fume more than the glares he had to give every single male who even looked at Sakura for more than a second like a piece of eye candy.

He glanced down at her, noticing that she had a pleasant smile to her lips, and she seemed fairly happy. Did walking beside him make her feel that way? He blushed. She looked more beautiful than he remembered, quickly realizing that he was staring at her much the same as the guys who he just threatened with glares were.

Thank god Ichiraku's was in sight, and he watched as Naruto quickly went into the ramen establishment, offering Hinata a seat before sitting down on his own. He left two seats empty to the right of his as Hinata sat on his left. Sasuke could hear Naruto greeting the owner Teuchi with enthusiasm, telling the older man that two more people would be joining them.

Sakura and Sasuke arrived, Sakura taking the seat right next to Naruto and Sasuke sitting to her right.

"Wow!" Teuchi exclaimed. "Is that Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun?" He said, clearly pleasantly surprised at seeing two of Naruto's old teammates. It had been a long time since he had seen the three of them together.

"Teuchi-san." Sakura greeted. It had been quite a few months since she had actually come and had a bowl of ramen here.

"I would like the usual please!" Naruto stated, "and my lovely wife can order whatever she wants!"

"I would like a shio chashu with fish cakes please." Hinata ordered.

"Okay you two, coming right up! What about for you Sakura-chan? Sasuke-kun?"

"Ill take a shoyu katsudon bowl please!" Sakura replied.

"I'll take a miso katsudon." Sasuke ordered.

"Okay, I'll have those right up too!"

"Oh Teuchi-san! Can we get an order of gyoza too?" Naruto interjected. The older man grinned and nodded as he disappeared off into the kitchen behind him.

Naruto started a conversation while they waited for their ramen. "Man! It's been a long time since we've all sat here to have ramen like this! I told Sasuke that we had to come here and eat! It's tradition!"

"Ugh, Naruto, not everyone has an unhealthy love affair with food." Sakura sighed. The only other person she could think of that had this unhealthy of a love affair with food was Choji, but with good reason at least.

"Yeah, but it's ramen! What's wrong with ramen?! It tastes soooo good!" Naruto retorted.

"You kiss your wife with that mouth, and I'm sure all she tastes is ramen!" Sakura teased, feigning a disgusted expression on her face. This also elicited a slight blush from both Naruto and Hinata.

"At least I like real food! Sasuke over there is obsessed with tomatoes! How is that a real food?!" Naruto argued, trying to put someone else under the spotlight. Sakura looked at Sasuke to see an irritated scowl forming on his face.

"At least I eat a varied diet." Sasuke reasoned, earning a glare from Naruto. Hinata and Sakura couldn't help but both let out a small laugh at the two going right to bickering, as if they didn't know any better.

"Okay, okay you two!" Teuchi said, coming out with both Hinata and Sakura's bowls of ramen first. He gently set them down in front of them, earning a thank you from both women before going back to grab both Naruto and Sasuke's ramen order along with Naruto's order of gyoza.

"Alright now we're talking! Let's eat!" Naruto said, his earlier irritation forgotten over the steaming delicious smell of the ramen being set in front of him. "Thank you Teuchi! This looks so tasty as always!"

Sasuke, along with the other three all broke their chopsticks, ready to dig into their food.

"Naruto, you are so sloppy I can hear you slurping your noodles from over here." Sasuke stated, bringing a piece of katsudon to his mouth.

"Not all of us eat pretentiously." Naruto fired back, purposefully slurping his noodles even louder just to piss the Uchiha off more.

"Naruto you are loud!" Sakura added. "You should behave in front of your wife."

This made Sasuke smirk. It was kind of amusing to see Sakura use the threat of Naruto's wife instead of threatening to punch him herself.

"Sorry Hina-chan." Naruto grumbled, immediately minding his manners. Hinata smiled at her husband.

"I love you, but you really were being kind of loud." She said softly, patting Naruto on the back. "Anyway, I feel like I haven't gotten to talk to you in a while, Sakura-chan. How's your clinic doing?"

Sakura swallowed her bite before replying. "Good! A few of our patients have graduated from our program recently! I'm really enjoying watching them grow and the progress our younger patients make." Sakura replied.

"Ah! That is so amazing! You work so hard! I don't think I would be able to do what you do."

"You manage Naruto, trust me that is a job in itself." Sakura encouraged. Naruto looked at her like she had just said the rudest thing ever which made Sakura laugh at his dislike to her statement.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel proud of Sakura, as he finished the last of his ramen. Listening to her talk with Hinata and Naruto about her clinic gave him understanding of just how passionate she was about it. This was good he thought. He enjoyed just being in the presence of his friends again, without feeling as overwhelmed with guilt. He began to wonder to himself while they continued to engage in various topics, answering every so often when they would ask his input. Could he ever ask Sakura to give up anything for him?

"I think we should call it a night." Naruto finally announced, snapping Sasuke out of his personal thoughts as he returned to the reality in front of him. Naruto stretched, a satisfied grin on his face as he pulled out his wallet to leave money on the counter for the food he and his wife had ordered.

"Thank you for coming out with us, Sakura-chan, and welcome back Sasuke-san." Hinata said, smiling at the both of them. She reached out for her husband's hand who happily received it. Hinata had always been very polite.

"Thank you for the invite." Sasuke replied politely, showing the same courtesy as the former Hyuuga.

"It was good to see you, Hina-chan! Please keep this stubborn idiot in check for us." Sakura thanked softly.

"Sasuke! You better walk Sakura-chan home, y'know? It's pretty late." Naruto demanded, giving him a serious look.

Sakura blushed. "Naruto, don't be ridiculous! I am more than capable of walking myself home, thank you! Besides, I'm sure Sasuke-kun is pretty tired and could use a good night's rest."

As Sakura was trying to get Naruto off of Sasuke's back, and defend her own independence at the same time, she didn't notice that Sasuke had paid for both of their meals, patiently waiting for Sakura to be done justifying what either of them should or shouldn't do.

Naruto had noticed this while Sakura was scolding him, only half listening to his female friend, a satisfied understanding look on his face.

"Well, just get home safe…and don't do anything I wouldn't do!" He teased, ruining the moment as he turned to hurry away with his wife knowing full well that comment would more than irritate his pink haired friend.

Sakura was indeed immediately irritated, ready to make Naruto's fears a reality. "Naruto! You-"

"Sakura." Sasuke called calmly, but in a low demanding tone. Sakura immediately looked at him, then looked at where they had sat for dinner, observing that their bowls had been cleaned up. Realization suddenly hit her.

"Hey did you… pay for my food?" She asked, as if dumbfounded that someone would do such a thing for her.

"Let's go." Sasuke stated, knowing that she knew what the obvious answer was. Of course he was going to pay for her dinner. He was the one who told her to come after all, demanding she eat, and he did have every intention to walk her home for the night as well. He was fully aware that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, but after Naruto exhausting him all day, he just wanted to spend some time with her… and get some much needed sleep afterwards he decided. He turned and began to walk in the direction of Sakura's apartment, hearing the sound of her thumping feet on the earth as she ran to catch up to him.

The two of them walked in an awkward silence for a little ways before Sakura finally began a conversation.

"Thank you." She said softly. "For dinner… and I know you know you didn't have to walk me home, but thank you anyway."

"You need to eat better, Sakura." Sasuke stated. He knew that when he did use her name, she knew that he was being serious. It was obvious to him that she was not eating the way she should because she had been keeping herself busy. It made him worry, and he did not enjoy the feeling of it. He really knew it was a problem when everyone else made it a point to state it as well.

"Y-yeah… probably. I just get so busy…" She trailed off, as if knowing it was a poor excuse.

The front door of her apartment came into view all too soon, Sasuke decided. They didn't say anything more to each other as he walked her straight to the steps that led to her apartment door. He watched as she walked up to her door to unlock it, hoping that she wouldn't beg him to come in again because he knew that he wouldn't refuse her. Door unlocked, Sakura stopped, turning around as if to invite him in like he was dreading.

"Hey." Sakura called softly, her face showing emotions of her being torn on what to say. "I never said it yesterday since I totally fell asleep… but welcome home, Sasuke."

A blush spread like wildfire on Sasuke's face as he turned slightly to try and conceal it. The way Sakura was standing there, a blush on her cheeks and the obvious look of longing on her face and even more so in her eyes made him suddenly think of her in a way that he had denied thinking about before. It only made the longing he had concealed in his own thoughts and feelings come bursting to the surface.

He wanted to kiss Haruno Sakura right then and there. He wanted to grab her and kiss those lips that had been teasing him in his dreams for far too long. _And more…_

"Good night, Sakura." Sasuke forced out, not allowing her to see his face as he turned and began to walk away, a frustrating reminder of what he really wanted making him uncomfortable in his lower parts. The way his body was reacting to her was unfamiliar. He left Sakura speechless, feeling her eyes staring at his back and his retreating form. It felt like an eternity before he heard her apartment door shut in a way that almost seemed to convey audible disspointment.

* * *

Akdjfowebfdfbwefbdodbf!

OMG so in the days it took me to write this chapter, I watched the latest Boruto episode in which Sakura goes the place where her and Sasuke go on their first 'date' that lasted a whole two and a half minutes! I was so mad they didn't do a flashback like whyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I want to know what the heck happened!

I don't know if I will incorporate that into my story or not, but if I can work it out to fit smoothly into my plot, I will.

Thank you for reading chapter two and I hope to read some of your thoughts and reviews on it!


	3. Complexity

Thank you to all those who reviewed the last chapter! I really appreciate your input! There was one review in particular I wanted to respond to (but unfortunately couldn't directly message them because of it being a guest review)

Anonymous reviewer truth: I really appreciate your review, and that you were honest with how you felt. I can most definitely understand the irritation you may feel about people writing Sakura's reaction as crying when she sees Sasuke. While it was difficult for me to decide on how I wanted her to react, the reason I decided to go with the reaction I did for Sakura was simply to keep her more human. Please allow me to explain: Sakura is probably by far the most amazing character in the Naruto series as far as overall character development. She literally went from a really annoying character, to one that overcame many obstacles. She didn't come from a super strong clan bloodline, or was born with any particular exceptional traits. Kishimoto wrote her in as a normal, if slightly pathetic character, and turned her into a serious powerhouse to be reckoned with. She overcame all of those challenges by her own power and will. In some ways, it makes her almost too perfect of a character, so her flaws are an important reminder (at least in my opinion) of keeping her realistic. She is very emotionally driven, and kind. Sakura is really patient, but I feel that even she would have an emotional breaking point too. I can definitely understand that it is easier to keep those emotions in check when you are certain about where the other person's emotions lie (i.e after Sasuke and Sakura are married.) but where Sasuke isn't entirely forthcoming about his emotions to Sakura at this point in the story (It's almost as if he just expects people to know what he really means when he comes off as blunt and rude because he is straightforward) I feel it's okay to write Sakura as emotional. She's not just crying because she's sad or weak. She's happy, uncertain, has missed him, and I would have to imagine that she is also frustrated with trying to figure out what exactly their relationship is. Anyway that's just my two cents on that situation! Again, thank you for your review!

As always, Naruto and things related are Kishimoto's, and not mine.

* * *

Chapter III: Complexity

* * *

The emotional rollercoaster that was rushing through Sakura was frustrating. She sighed as she pulled off her ninja sandals, ready to take a shower and get some much needed sleep. The fact that she was so sleep deprived probably didn't help her frustration. She at least had a day off tomorrow to look forward to, but she dreaded it slightly because she knew that she would have to do chores that she had been avoiding. Her apartment desperately needed cleaned, and she probably ought to go get some real food… although for a moment she debated on why she should do any of it in the first place because her main motivation for it was that Sasuke was home, and well he was acting like a wishy washy tumultuous idiot!

One moment was fleeting, as if all his attention were on her and that maybe, just maybe he was finally working towards giving her an answer to her feelings, and then the next he was acting all aloof and distant, as if friends were all they were, and friends was all he intended them to be.

Trudging to her bathroom, Sakura undressed herself, turning the bath faucet on and waited for the water to become warm. When the bathtub became full, she grabbed her stool and bathing supplies, setting them down on the tile and in front of her large bathroom mirror. A shower head was mounted above it and she turned the handle to allow the water to spray from the nozzle. It was always important to wash and clean up before settling into a bath. Sakura let out a long but relieving sigh upon the hot water wetting her skin, relaxing into the calming sensation. After wetting her hair and body, she began her washing routine. Her shampoo and conditioner smelled of sweet vanilla and the cherry blossoms for which she was named after. When her hair was clean, she moved on to the rest of her body. Observing herself in the mirror in front of her as she did so, she did look tired and she was not as toned she conceded. The lack of eating and training she had done in the last few weeks really were starting to catch up to her. Satisfied that she had cleaned up and scrubbed her body enough, she rinsed away the soap, wrapping her hair up in a towel and moved the settle into her bath.

The events of the last two nights began to replay in her head, and the logical side of her wanted to try and make sense of it all. She had been so excited that Sasuke had come home that she hadn't even really thought about why or what had made the Uchiha decide to return to the village. On one hand, he had been away for three years, so it would seem time for him to at least check in she thought. On the other hand, she had to wonder how long he planned on staying. He had made no notion of planning to be back permanently, so the likelihood of it was probably slim. Sakura then thought about when he had left last, his promise of maybe next time, and the poke on her forehead which made her unconsciously touch it in response. What exactly was she to him? He had done some things that were very uncharacteristic of the Sasuke she knew, like pay for her dinner, and spend time with her one on one. But then again he had treated her like he would any comrade she thought, comfortable with her presence, but not wanting or expecting more like how he had promptly dropped her off at the door, almost as if satisfied his job was done and that he could return home.

Deciding that trying to analyze it all wasn't going to change things or make her any less frustrated, she got out of the bath, drying herself off with her favorite blue towel, and unplugged the drain to empty the water out. She picked up her bathing items, putting them away where they go for once in the cupboard above her sink, and unscrewed the lid to her toothpaste, ready to brush her teeth and go to bed for the night.

With everything done, and feeling refreshed and clean, Sakura made her way to her bed, trying to straighten her floral covers that she had left in disarray and straightened the matching pillows on her twin sized bed. Satisfied, she snuggled up under them, and almost instantly fell asleep.

* * *

Sakura's eyes snapped open, unsure of whether she was imagining things or not when the sound of knocking came ringing through her apartment a second time. Almost in a panic, she suddenly sat up in bed, daylight shining brightly through her bedroom window. What time was it?!

The knocking sounded through her apartment a third time, coaxing the pink haired kunoichi to climb out of bed. Knowing her luck it was probably just Naruto and Hinata, or Ino bugging her since they tended to do so when they find out she has a day off. She almost wished that she could have slept in a little longer…

"I'm coming! Geez do you really have to knock so much-" Opening the door, Sakura did not expect to see Sasuke standing there, almost seeming a little impatient at how long it took her to answer.

"Eh? Sasuke-kun?" Embarrassment quickly rushed over Sakura at the realization that the man who was standing in front of her door was not who she had assumed would be, and that it would be painfully obvious given her current state that she had just now rolled out of bed. Seeming slightly amused, Sasuke lifted a quizzical eyebrow, as if contemplating on whether he should inquire about her current situation or not.

Sasuke however, had clearly taken the time to get cleaned up since the night before, even changing his attire from his worn out travelling clothes into what she assumed was an all black ensemble underneath the new black coat he was wearing. He looked more similar to the way he did when he first set out from the village, except for his obvious growth in height and his longer hair. He had even taken off the head wrap he had been wearing. Nevertheless, Sakura thought it was impossible for the man to not look handsome, no matter what he wore or how he aged. He still could probably use a haircut though…

"Were you still sleeping?" He inquired, though Sakura knew that he was asking that for conversation, and not for an answer.

"Uh yeah. It's my day off so…" Sakura replied, her embarrassment only getting worse.

"I know. Naruto told me. I'll give you a minute to get ready." He mused. "I'm not in any hurry." With that, Sasuke turned away, moving to settle himself down on one of the staircase steps. Sakura didn't move for a moment, still trying to process everything that had just occurred. The damn roller coaster was back. Sakura disappeared into her apartment, heading straight into her room to get dressed for the day.

Sasuke honestly didn't pay much attention to how much time had passed since telling Sakura to get herself properly dressed for the day. It seemed like he didn't have to wait long though when he heard the door to her apartment open. Snapped into reality from his personal thoughts, he looked up at Sakura who had decided to wear a green sweater with white pants and pink sandals. Instead of her forehead protector, she wore a red headband in it's place. It was strange to see her in civilian clothes, yet somewhat relaxing as well in a way that Sasuke didn't quite understand.

"Sorry, we can go now. What did you want to go do?" Sakura questioned, as she closed and locked her apartment door before turning to walk down the steps. Sasuke had stood up and walked to the bottom of the steps as she did so, waiting for her.

"I was planning on going to the market." He replied, finally answering her question. Sasuke knew that she didn't have food in her apartment, and neither did he. The temporary place that Kakashi had set him up with was nothing short of lightly furnished and basic either.

"O-oh. Did you get a place?" Sakura inquired, which only elicited a quick affirming nod from the Uchiha.

"Yeah, for now." Sasuke began to walk off with Sakura following in tow. He noted that she matched his pace, but gave him ample room between them. Part of him wished she would walk closer with him, but he completely understood her apprehension. They walked in silence together as they headed for the market. It wasn't long before they could hear the noise of the market though. It was convenient that Sakura lived so close. They turned down the market street which was bustling with people.

"Things have probably changed quite a bit since you were here last." Sakura commented.

"A bit." Sasuke noted. In truth, it had changed quite a bit.

"We have even more market vendors these days. The peace has brought a lot of business to the village. It's nice though, because we have a lot more options now, and things we never had before." Sakura rambled. Just then, her stomach grumbled signaling that she was hungry. Considering that she had slept through breakfast, Sasuke wasn't surprised. He considered offering to go somewhere to eat, but it seemed that Sakura had plans of her own.

"Ah! Sorry, I slept through breakfast." Sakura said with a nervous chuckle. "I'm going to get something to eat quick." She said, pointing towards a dango shop, probably the one that she got food from the other day Sasuke noted. "I'll be right back."

"Okay." Sasuke replied as he watched Sakura disappear off into the shop. He felt a little conflicted as to what he should do. He could follow her into the shop, but felt uncomfortable doing so. He didn't really want to stand there awkwardly waiting either. He still wasn't used to the strange stares that the people in the village gave him, and he could hear the wondering whispers of who the strange man with the well known Sakura was. It made him uneasy, but luckily a familiar yet annoying voice resounded through his ears.

"Oi! Sasuke!" Naruto called, running up to him. Sasuke observed how the attention of people around him suddenly shifted to the heroic ninja, their curiosity only growing about the war hero's friend. Obviously, not many people here knew him considering so many new people had migrated here, and Sasuke personally preferred it that way.

"Naruto." Sasuke acknowledged.

"What are you doing just standing there? You look weird." Naruto inquired, but not without insulting his rival.

"I'm waiting for Sakura." Sasuke replied, unamused.

"Huh? For Sakura?" Naruto repeated, suddenly turning serious. "Did you walk her home last night? Wait did you stay the ni-" He stopped mid sentence upon seeing said pink haired kunoichi exciting the dango shop and heading towards them.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" Sakura inquired, looking somewhat puzzled as she began to rummage through her plastic bag of food.

"I just got done eating ramen of course, and I saw Sasuke standing here like an idiot."

"Eh? Oh, right. I needed some food since I slept in today." Sakura replied. "And seriously, do you ever eat anything besides ramen? Where's Hinata-chan?" She questioned as she began to pull out rice balls from her bag.

Suddenly, Naruto seemed depressed at the mention of his missing wife. "Kakashi sent her out on a scouting mission today." He whined dejectedly. "In fact apparently he has a mission for me as well so he asked me to come to his office after I ate which means I probably won't see Hina-chan for a little bit."

"Naruto, you're like a lost puppy." Sakura commented, slightly amused by Naruto's animated displeasure. Sasuke sighed. Despite how much he had matured all around into a well respected adult, he behaved like such a kid sometimes.

"That's rough coming from you, Sakura-chan…" Naruto muttered. Sasuke silently watched his two best friends bicker in a sense, but he couldn't help but feel a slight pang of jealousy at the fact that Naruto had found someone he loved, and that he could openly express it so easily. Naruto had always worn his heart on his sleeve in a sense, a quality that Sasuke found annoying at times.

"Sasuke-kun, I got you some tuna rice balls. I thought you might be hungry." Sakura said, holding out three rice balls for the Uchiha to take. He stared at the rice balls in her hand for a moment, thinking that even after all this time she still remembered what kinds of food he liked. This woman was too good for him.

"Ah, thank you." He finally said as he reached out his right arm to take the food offered to him.

"Well, anyway, I'm going to head out to get my mission details. Sasuke, take care of Sakura-chan!" Naruto interjected, heading off. Sasuke could sense that Naruto probably felt a little awkward in their situation, but he also probably felt that he should give them some space, considering he had been pestering Sasuke about her since he had come back to the village. Sakura waved him off with a smile.

"Anyway, Sasuke-kun what kind of items are you looking for? I know a place that has really good tomatoes…" Sakura trailed off. Sasuke couldn't help but soften his expression. Of course she wouldn't of forgotten that either.

"Just the basics. I'll just follow you and get what I want along the way." Sasuke conceded. This kind of stuff was not his thing, and honestly he was perfectly okay with letting Sakura guide their way.

"Well, we should probably sit and finish our food first." Sakura suggested, a smile spread on her face. There was a bench just a few feet from her that she walked towards and Sasuke just followed. After all, it would be rude to not consume the food she had purchased for him. He watched as she sat on the bench, and looked towards him, motioning for him to sit beside her. He simply complied without a word.

"We're even now, for dinner last night I mean." Sakura began, starting up a conversation.

"I didn't need you to do something in return, Sakura." Sasuke replied, taking a bite of his rice ball. Sakura went silent at his reply, causing Sasuke to glance at her to try and decipher what she was thinking out of the corner of his eye.

"Well… I know it wasn't a date or anything so…" She trailed off, hesitantly.

"It didn't have to be. I just wanted to." Sasuke interjected. He noticed a change in her position, her body language conveying that she seemed a little disappointed in his reply. _It wasn't a date_ he thought, but if it were, he intended to make sure she _knew._

"Well, I wanted to buy you a meal too, then." Sakura reasoned. Sasuke could see a blush on her face out of the corner of his eye, but he could tell that deep down she was just reasoning with herself.

They finished off their food in silence, deciding they were ready to resume their grocery shopping.

Sasuke followed Sakura around, listening to what she had to say as she went about talking about the best places to get different items, and when since she was familiar when the shipments of new and fresh food would arrive.

They had bought a few different things, Sasuke carrying both Sakura's items as well as his own when they were about to enter a sweets shop, mostly for Sakura since he was not a sweets person. He would not complain about waiting for her though.

"You don't have to come in with me since you don't really like sweets, so I doubt you will find anything you need." Sakura informed Sasuke. She was about to enter the shop when a little girl came running excitedly, shocking the pinkette who swiftly stepped aside to avoid the little girl running straight into her. She had almost bumped into Sasuke to avoid the little girl, her arm briefly brushing along his chest with sent little electric like jolts up the Uchiha with the contact. Without even realizing it, Sasuke had positioned himself almost protectively behind Sakura. The little girl seemed to immediately recognize the pinkette though when her face lit up with recognition. She was probably five or six at best, wearing a plain pink long sleeve dress that came down to her knees. She had brown hair that was tied up in a pony tail with a silver ribbon, and brown eyes as well.

"Haruno-san! Waaaaaaaaah! Who's that guy behind you! I've never seen him before! Is he your boyfriend?!" She wondered aloud, almost as if astounded. Kids her age never failed in their blatant honesty, and often their lack of tact.

This immediately elicited a blush from both Sakura and Sasuke, and while Sasuke didn't make any notion to reject her assumption, Sakura did, immediately pulling away from the Uchiha and denying their presumed relationship as she put her slender petite hands out, waving them in denial.

"O-oh no, Mika-chan, this is Uchiha Sasuke. He's an old friend of mine who's recently come home to visit." She tried to explain. The little girl didn't seem to quite buy Sakura's explanation Sasuke noticed, as she tilted her head slightly, staring at the two of them as if she was contemplating how much truth there was to what Sakura was saying.

"Really? But he looks like he could be your boyfriend since you look like a princess and he looks like a prince!" She proclaimed. This only made Sakura blush even harder, and Sasuke began to feel somewhat flustered himself. "Besides Haruno-san has been single for a long time! Yamanaka-san said so!"

Sasuke could tell that the last statement immediately embarrassed Sakura, even if there was absolute truth to those words, and in a way, it somewhat made him satisfied. He would have been lying to himself if he didn't admit that he wondered if she started to date around because she had waited so long on him while he was gone. He almost wanted it that way… _it would be better for her._

"Mika-chan, I will see you at the clinic soon okay? Don't get yourself into too much trouble!" Sakura prompted, clearly uncomfortable with the current subject. The little girl seemed a little disappointed at the sudden change, but at least she seemed the sense that Sakura didn't want to talk about it.

"Huh? Okay! I'll be good! See you soon!" Mika waved Sakura goodbye before running off and disappearing in the crowds of people that filled the marketplace.

"Sorry about that." Sakura chuckled nervously. "She's one of my patients at the mental clinic. She was orphaned during the war, and we were able to help get her adopted. She's actually just about finished treatment at my clinic, and I'm really excited! Kids her age… are rather blunt though, aren't they?"

"Don't worry about it."

It was obvious that Sakura was trying to brush the whole thing off, probably in an attempt to make him feel less awkward about the whole thing, but in all honesty it did not make him feel all that uncomfortable. He was okay with people making that assumption, as selfish as it really was, because it meant that other people might back off with him around her.

"Okay, well I will be right back. I wont make you wait too long." Sakura promised, as she finally went into the candy shop. Sasuke couldn't help but stare at her as she disappeared into the shop, feeling even more conscious about her after the whole fiasco with the little girl.

The candy shop was quaint, and he recognized it as it had been here before he had left, but it seemed that it had received some attention since then as the building's colors looked crisp and new, the windows washed, and a new unfamiliar awning replaced its old one. The building was now white as well, with red accents. It had an odd name, Puru Puru candy but it the sweet smells of the candy that drifted out of the little shop were still the same. Lost in his observation of the place, he was only snapped out of his thoughts when Sakura emerged from the little shop, keeping her promise of being quick. She had a little bag in her hands, obviously with some sorts of candy inside.

"Thanks for waiting!" Sakura acknowledged happily. "I think we've got almost everything, but tomatoes! There's this really nice little old lady who sells fresh tomatoes from her garden! She grows them all year long in this really cool little greenhouse her husband made her. It tastes better than all the market ones."

Well, that explained why she hadn't motioned to any of the tomatoes in the market earlier. Sasuke was somewhat curious when she didn't, but assumed that she had somewhere else in mind.

"Okay then, let's go." Sasuke stated. Sakura nodded at him, heading off into what he presumed was the direction of the tomato shop. It was only a few vendors down before Sakura stopped, greeting an older looking lady. The little vendor stall that she was standing in was indeed modest, built out of wood in a very traditional style, with a green and white striped awning over the top. There was no name for her little stall that Sasuke could see, but she had neatly organized a colorful array of tomatoes in big wooden boxes, side by side on clear display. Sakura definitely wasn't exaggerating about this lady. Her tomatoes looked really good, and she had different colored varieties other than the traditional red. He had seen orange, yellow and green tomatoes before on his travels, but he had rarely ever seen them in Konoha.

He had zoned out of the conversation that Sakura was having with the old lady, but she grabbed his attention when he heard his name being introduced.

"This is my friend, Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura announced. "He really likes tomatoes, so I told him you grew the best! Sasuke-kun, this is Kurosawa Tamako."

Sasuke greeted the woman with a slight bow.

"My my, such a handsome young man! I've never seen Sakura with anyone else besides Naruto-kun and his beautiful wife." It was obvious to Sasuke now that Sakura probably frequented this little shop when she did buy groceries, and that she had befriended the old lady as well. It also seemed that the universe was trying to smack him in the face with how obviously single his pink haired friend was. As if he didn't _know._

"Nice to meet you." Sasuke politely greeted.

"Which tomatoes would you like today? Why don't you pick out as many as you want? My treat since I haven't seen you in a while and since you took such good care of my husband the other day."

"Oh, no really! That was no problem! You really should let us pay for our things. We are more than happy to!" Sakura, refusing politely. "Sasuke-kun, which tomatoes would you like? I know you like the red ones, but I think orange ones taste really good too!"

"I'll try a couple of each." Sasuke replied. Sakura nodded, going about her business picking out a couple of each. She wasn't paying attention to Sasuke otherwise she would have realized that he silently slipped the older lady a sum that far exceeded what the tomatoes would of cost, but he honestly didn't care. The old lady seemed to understand his underlying intention though as she began to bag up a couple of tomatoes herself. He knew that those would be intended for Sakura.

"Okay, I think we got enough! How much are these going to cost?" Sakura asked, innocent of the situation that had just transpired.

"Uchiha-san has already paid for them, dear. And I just can't let you go without these." Tamako insisted, handing Sakura another sack of tomatoes. Sasuke watched as Sakura again seemed hesitant in taking them, as if contemplating politely refusing them again, or insisting on paying for them, but it seemed that she felt it would be rude to refuse a second time since the old lady was being so persistent.

"You are too kind, Tamako-san." She shot Sasuke a look out of the corner of her eye that he caught, as if she knew that he had paid for her share of tomatoes as well, sly like the night before. "Thank you. Please take care!"

"You take care as well, young one! It was nice to meet you Uchiha-san. It's nice to see that Sakura-chan has such a nice looking friend! Make sure she doesn't work so hard!" This caught Sasuke a little off guard as he detected what the old lady was hinting at, but it brought a small smirk to his expression.

"I will." He replied. Sakura and Sasuke began to walk off, now done with their shopping as Tamako waved goodbye. He had meant it. He could tell Sakura had been working hard.

They walked in comfortable silence as they made their way past all the shops they had already visited, heading back towards Sakura's apartment. Once they were off the main marketplace street and the noise began to drown out as they distanced themselves from it, Sakura finally broke their silence.

"You paid for the tomatoes, didn't you?" Sakura stated it rather than it being a question.

"Does that bother you? I didn't need the change." Sasuke justified calmly, playing it off as no big deal.

"No! It doesn't, I meant to say thank you, really." Sakura replied sheepishly.

When they reached Sakura's apartment, Sakura felt disappointed that it would probably mean Sasuke would head off to do his own thing. She had enjoyed spending the morning with him, more than she probably should have let herself, and she couldn't help but replay the assumption of him being her boyfriend over and over in her head.

"Thank you."

Sakura was snapped out of her own little fantasy upon hearing Sasuke's voice. It was funny that he was the one saying 'thank you' when he was actually the one who had woken her up to go grocery shopping in the first place because he had observed her own lack of food storage, but she knew it was his way of being relieved that she had went with him without question, especially after the awkwardness of the night before.

"It's going to be lunch time soon." Sakura wondered aloud, knowing that Sasuke would understand what she was trying to imply. It went against her better judgement, but her heart was betraying her logical thinking. She didn't want her time with Sasuke to end just yet. She looked up at Sasuke, who met her gaze intently, causing a blush to form on her cheeks at the intensity of it. She adverted her gaze shyly, her heart beginning to race. She hadn't expected him to look at her like that.

Reaching her door, Sasuke closely in tow she moved to unlock it, letting the both of them in. Based on the fact that Sasuke had just followed her without a word, she knew that he had accepted her invitation to stay for lunch.

"Sorry, my place isn't really any cleaner than before…" Sakura murmured. "I planned on cleaning it today." As she began to pull of her shoes and slip on some slippers. She reached out, motioning Sasuke to give her the bags of groceries he was holding with his one arm so that he could comfortably do the same. Sasuke complied.

"I'll make some tea first! You can just relax." She offered as she went to her empty kitchen, setting down their groceries gently on her wooden floor to prevent the contents inside from bruising.

"Ah." Was the only reply she got from Sasuke, as he went to sit on her couch in the living room. Content however, she decided she would get started on their tea, her back turned away from the Uchiha. She didn't notice that he had picked up one of her books, flipping through it. She was caught off guard when he suddenly began to ask her a question.

"How long have you been studying up on the sharingan?" He asked seriously. This immediately made Sakura uncomfortable because it clearly made the way she cared about him obvious.

"Oh that? It's a book I've had for a while." Sakura began. "Since I'm a medic I just thought it would be good to have a wide knowledge of things… I'm sorry." She tried to explain. She knew that he was touchy about subjects that pertained to his particular lineage. Once, he might have been really irritated by her research into it, but his face soften upon realizing that his current expression was probably making Sakura really uncomfortable. Sasuke sighed.

"If you really want to know about it… I could tell you." He gently offered. This caught Sakura off guard as it seemed so uncharacteristic of him, but she also had to remind herself that he had probably changed quite a bit in the last three years.

"I… I was mostly researching about it so I could try and understand way to help you… with the eye fatigue I mean." Sakura admitted. Sasuke didn't pursue the conversation after that, seeming to understand her she guessed, but he did gently shut the book and began to place it back on her empty bookshelf. Sakura watched as he began to do the same with the other books she still had laying around out of place. At first she was confused as to why Sasuke was doing such a thing, but she knew better than to ask, or tell him to stop. She returned to making their tea, letting him do as he pleased.

By the time the tea was ready, Sasuke had managed to neatly place all her books back into her bookshelf, and her scrolls neatly stacked beside them.

"The tea is ready, Sasuke-kun." As she brought a tray into the living room. In response, Sasuke sat down at the little coffee table as sakura laid down the tray and did the same. She had even gone as far as to slice some apples up for them as well, and ode to their genin days. It was a familiar gesture.

She poured the hot tea into one of the cups, handing it to Sasuke. He gently took it from her wordlessly, as she began to pour herself a cup as well. The tea was steaming hot, but Sasuke took a quick sip before setting his cup down and reaching for a slice of apple. Sakura seemed transfixed on something else, probably just trying to avoid looking at him directly. Whenever their eyes met, it brought out an unspoken chemistry between the two that neither would admittedly acknowledge. The tension between the two was almost palpable.

"Sorry, it must have been really awkward for you at the market today… with people thinking you were my… boyfriend." Sakura brought up. She was tentative about the subject, but she just couldn't help but wonder about it.

"Sakura, if they knew who I was…" Sakura could hear the self doubt and seriousness in Sasuke's voice. "They would not want you to have anything to do with me."

"They don't get to decide that for me." Sakura interjected. Sasuke was surprised by her bold response, causing guilt and relief to swell in his chest at the same time. The guilt he felt… she was still waiting for him. It was painfully obvious, and the relief that she had. It had taken him so long to even allow himself the realization that he wanted Sakura in a different way. The more he realized this though, the more doubt he began to have in himself. His resolve wavered at the realization that Sakura really was too good for him.

Sasuke didn't know how to reply to that, causing an uncomfortable silence to fall between the two of them.

* * *

After lunch, Sakura and Sasuke didn't talk much. Sasuke decided he would take his own groceries home and get some other things done while Sakura agreed that she had a few things to get done herself, like clean her apartment. They had gone their separate ways, but after Sakura had finished cleaning her apartment, she decided she would go on a stroll to get some fresh air and try and clear her head of the awkward way the two of them had left things last. She changed into her ninja gear, feeling more comfortable being out and about in that by herself.

Fate was a funny thing, almost as if teasing her, because as she strolled, she found Sasuke at the same training ground that she had seen him spar at with Naruto. He was practicing with Kusanagi, and she stopped to watch him. His cloak at been set aside. Sakura didn't realize that she had been staring for a little while until the red glow of his sharingan met her eyes in an intense gaze. His form soften as he let his sword drop to his side, his attention now on her.

Sakura stepped closer, one foot in front of the other until she was standing in front of him.

"Can I… Can I spar with you?" She asked softly. She knew that she was still probably no match for the man in front of her, but she just wanted to.

"Sure." Sasuke replied, his tone soft as well. The sun was beginning to settle as the sky began to turn colors, and the street lamps began to turn on. After their awkwardness earlier, maybe sparring would help both of them feel a little less tense. The two of them agreed to a match of taijutsu.

They stood opposite from each other, neither one of them making the first move yet. Both of them were trying to devise their own strategy. Sasuke knew just how fearsome Sakura could be, although her inhuman strength had never been directed at him before. Sakura hadn't sparred with Sasuke since their gennin days. All she knew about his capabilities was those that she had seen.

Their long seeming stand off was suddenly broken when Sakura decided she would take the first swing, missing as he swiftly dodged her. In retaliation be swung around for a kick, aimed at her side which she blocked, pushing them both back. She went for another punch this time, ready to add a flying elbow in if he dodged her again, but he easily deflected both, throwing a punch with his right arm in response that Sakura deflected off to her right, ready to bring her knee to his gut. At the last minute he avoided that as well, instead letting himself take the blow to his thigh to minimize the damage. This caught Sakura off guard as her flying knee sent him to the ground.

"Tch." Sakura gritted her teeth. He was toying with her. She watched as he calmly picked himself up off the ground, dusting himself off before taking on another stance again.

"You are pulling your punches." He taunted. She was distracted, and it was obvious.

"And you're just going along with it?" She retorted. He didn't answer her, but Sakura could feel the frustration building. She clenched her fist harder, her knuckles probably turning white underneath her black gloves. The taunting. She couldn't take it. He had been taunting her since he had come back.

She ran at him again, this time intending on faking him out with a left punch and an uppercut with her right. Even without his sharingan activated though, it seemed as if he could easily read her movements as he dodged her first punch, making her feel like she might catch him with the second, but his right arm quickly reacted, deflecting the uppercut as he grabbed her wrist and swiftly threw her into the ground.

The fierceness that reflected in her eyes as his eyes bore into hers as she lay flat on her back from his counter attack set Sasuke's insides ablaze. That fierce and determined expression was one of the things about this woman he had fallen in love with. Her cheeks were stained red, both probably from exertion of their spar and her embarrassment from being laid out on her back. He eyebrows furrowed as she abruptly ripped her right arm out of his grasp, ready for a low windmill kick, causing the Uchiha to quickly jump out of the way.

They were both standing again, fiercely facing the other. This time, Sasuke made the first move as he ran for her. He made it seem like he was going to go for a straightforward punch, but at the last minute, feigned, swiftly turning and getting behind her, ready to deliver a blow from behind with his knee. Sakura reacted quickly, but was barely able to deflect his knee in time. She moved quickly, using a back kick from her left leg to knock Sasuke's left leg down that was planted firmly on the ground. Her counter attack was successful, sending the Uchiha down to the earth, but in clever strategy, he threw dirt up, limiting what Sakura could see to avoid her landing another hit on him.

He came at her from her blind spot, throwing a strong punch with his right arm. She caught his movement at the last minute raising both arms up in an effort to block his assault. She did so successfully, but not without him sending her skidding backwards a few feet. He was on the offensive as he came at her again, putting Sakura on the defense. She could sense that he was becoming more serious than he was before, and in some ways his intensity sent a shiver up his spine. She deflected his next punch and kick, but he was agile and Sakura knew that if she didn't devise a different plan quick that she would not be able to keep blocking him for long.

Seeing the next opportunity she could, she had to try and get on the offensive again. After successfully blocking a knee, sending the Uchiha back, she moved in for another punch, her opening clear as he tried to regain his footing, but she wasn't fast enough as he grabbed her arm, Sakura's eyes widening as she immediately knew what his next intention was. Using her own momentum against her, he swung her around, sending her flying in the air, straight towards a tree. She had to act fast. Summoning chakra to her feet, she landed on the tree, immediately pushing off from it in a counter strike, chakra now pooling into her fists, making them burn.

"Shannaro!" She cursed as her fist make a horrifying crack against the earth, immediately shattering it beneath her. The ground crumbled apart, sending rifts everywhere, and dirty flying into the air. Sakura stood on as solid of ground as she could waiting for the dust to settle while staying on the defense. Sasuke could probably counter attack at anytime, but no attack came and when the dust settled, she could see the menacing glow of red from Sasuke having activated his sharingan. Such brutal strength. It was almost terrifying to be on the receiving end of such an earth shattering strength from someone so slender and petite. If it weren't for his sharingan, she probably would have nailed him pretty good.

"Sakura." He called. He was about to reprimand her for going out of their sparring parameters when suddenly the ground beneath her began to crack. Without even a second thought, Sasuke swiftly reacted, lunging for Sakura to pull her away to safety, sending the both of them hurling towards the ground where her fearsome punch had not destroyed.

They had landed with Sakura underneath Sasuke, and to anyone who was witnessing their current positioning it would seem suggestive and provocative. When the dust settled between the two though Sakura's left forearm was covering her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She muttered, defeated. She was covering her eyes on purpose, he knew. They had been avoiding this since lunch, well really since the end of the war and he had left her to wait. It was his fault, he knew, and he came back fully intending on answering her feelings, but the last three days had left him with all of his guilt flooding back to him. He wasn't afraid of bonds, or connections he had thought.

"Sakura, I-" He was about to say something, but he was stopped dead in his tracks when she moved her arm, her alluring emerald eyes locking onto his. He could see the frustration, love, and desire they held clear as day. He was afraid of this. Having Sakura underneath him like this with her doe eyes, and her pink lips slightly parted was enough to shatter his damn self control into a million tiny pieces. It was selfish, so selfish to want her when he really didn't deserve her.

"I've never wanted to push you Sasuke-kun, but I-I…" Sakura was trying to choke back her words. She swore she was going to be stronger than this, she wasn't going to confess her feelings again. She had burdened him with them for a long time, and she knew he knew. She had been waiting for so long, been so patient. His face was so close to hers, as if he was teasing her. Silence fell between them as they just stared at each other, neither one daring to make the first move, but neither one pulling away.

Sakura didn't know what compelled her, but she tentatively reached her left arm up to touch the right side of Sasuke's cheek, causing his eyes to widen in surprise for a moment before they returned to their previous state. Her hand was so soft on his cheek, and so inviting. Maybe, maybe just once.

Before Sakura's brain could even register what transpired next, Sasuke leaned down, his lips brushing ever so lightly against hers. His eyes staring straight into hers, straight into her soul. She felt strangely naked at their intensity, and her breath hitched painfully in her throat, her heart threatening to explode out of her chest mercilessly. Before she could even react though, before his teasing brush could become a real kiss, his warmth was suddenly gone in an instant at the sound of a screeching hawk.

"Sakura, you deserve better than me... if we pass that line, there will never be going back."

He was gone, but those words rang in her ears, repeating over and over again in her brain, those last few words sending goosebumps all over her body, and a shiver down her spine.

* * *

Okay, not going to lie, I had some serious writers block with this particular chapter, so if it seems a little disjointed and doesn't flow smoothly, I am sorry! It is just impossible to write an interesting story without some kind of drama, and I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted it to progress and play out. My original idea did not flow without causing some plot holes with the first two chapters I had written, so I had to rework this in a way that it would.

By the way, I've been watching the last gaiden episodes and OMG I AM DYING from all the feels! And I still cant get over the part where Sarada was like "what the hell are these people" like she has no freaking clue just how powerful Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura really are, and that a sword through Naruto's torso was like nbd. It was just so freaking hilarious. I really felt that some parts of the gaiden arc so far have been done really well, while others were a little more disappointing. And even after almost 20 years, Naruto still whines about being ignored by Sasuke and Sakura when they are together, hahahaha! Kurama basically delivers an EPIC burn on Naruto too (Actually Boruto delivered the most EPIC burn of all during the episode they talk about the scroll Naruto stole at the beginning of the series)

Anyway, I think the next chapter will come a little quicker since I think I'm over my writer's block funk for now.

Thanks for reading, and please drop a review if possible! I'd appreciate to hear your opinions on the story so far!


	4. Vanish

a/n: OMG so many silent readers! I really appreciate all of the favorites and follows, but I really would like some more feedback! A lot of time still goes into writing these chapters, so it's really encouraging when my readers share their thoughts. Thank you for being so interested in my story though! And also a big thank you to everyone who kindly reviewed!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything related. They are owned by Kishimoto.

* * *

Chapter IV: Vanish

* * *

In a zombie like state, Sakura returned to her apartment, snapping unwillingly back into reality from the events that had just transpired upon seeing a notice peeping out of her mailbox that was situated on the right side of her apartment door. She knew the familiar envelope far too well, but it had been a while she thought, since she had been summoned.

A mission request.

Perhaps though, that was exactly what she needed right now. To get away and escape, if only for a little bit to deal with her feelings and thoughts that were currently an incoherent jumbled mess.

Grabbing the red slip from her mailbox, she entered her recently cleaned apartment, throwing her sandals off with blatant disregard and walking over to her living room to plop unceremoniously on the couch, despite the fact that she knew she was dirty from her spar with Sasuke earlier and that she was probably covered in dirt. She just didn't care right now. Ripping the seal on the envelope in a jagged fashion and noisily, she pulled out the notice hidden inside.

 _Haruno Sakura,_

 _You are hereby summoned by the hokage for an S -class rank mission._

 _Please report the following morning at 0600 hours to the office of the 6_ _th_ _Hokage , for your mission details._

A simple slip, but sometimes an endangering one. Despite all of the adversities that Sakura had faced in the span of her young life, she had very rarely ever been called on for an S rank mission, especially since her skills were much more useful applied in different ways. Considering it was an S-rank mission, she could only assume that whatever the mission details were, a highly skilled medic would be required, and she was the best one for the job.

Sighing, she put the note down, decided to head to the kitchen to eat some leftover lunch for dinner, and bathe before calling it a day and heading to bed.

Morning came all too quickly when Sakura's alarm went off. Groaning, she lazily rolled over, reaching out blindly to swat at the button to turn the noisy thing off. It was far to early, and her bed was way too warm and comfortable to leave. Remembering that she had an important mission to complete though made her throw her covers off and push herself out of bed. She half stumbled through her room as she pulled on all of her mission attire.

It was still dark outside, but nevertheless she went about packing her typical travelling gear for missions. It would save time on having to pack later, she thought. She had about thirty minutes before she had to report to the Hokage's office for her official mission.

Part of her began to wonder about who she would be assigned with. Should she leave without saying a word to Sasuke? What if she had to be gone a while? Would Sasuke leave while she was gone? So many thoughts swirled around her head in a sort of panic. Even now, he was on her mind.

Grabbing her bottle of soldier meal replacement pills, she quickly consumed one before placing the bottle in her black pack of travelling gear. She looked at her clock. Five Fourty Five. It was time to head to the office, she thought. She made her bed hastily and grabbed her bag to place it by the door before slipping on her ninja sandals and fastening her kunai pouch to her thigh. She turned off her entryway light before exciting her apartment, locking the door behind her.

The Hokage tower in sight, she began to run towards it, the brisk air stinging at her arms a little. The Sun was just barely beginning to make it's ascent into the sky, but it was still dark. She could see the light on in the Hokage's office and it emitted a faint glow to the buildings around it. Jumping on the rooftops and onto the office building's rooftop, she entered through the back door quietly, being the quickest route there.

Kakashi's office door was closed, but she could hear hushed discussions taking place in the room. Although the voices were familiar, she couldn't quite make out who the voices belonged to. Reaching the office door that was closed, she politely knocked, waiting for a response.

"Come in." Sounded the voice of her former teacher.

Sakura tentatively turned the doorknob, pushing open the door only to be surprised that Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke and Sai were all standing there, staring at her. Their conversations had stopped and the room went silent.

"Good, the last member of our team has arrived." Kakashi stated. Last? Seriously? She was on time, and it was never like Naruto to be early. She was also surprised to even see both Naruto and Hinata since she knew that the both of them had been called out in mission just the day before. She did note that the both of them did look a little tired though. Most likely whatever this mission is, they had rushed back through the night indicating just how urgent the nature of this mission could be.

Sakura looked at Sasuke, his eyes meeting with hers and they seemed to convey the same surprise that hers did. Being called on a mission together? Then, it suddenly clicked. The hawk she had heard the night before must have been a mission summons for him. That was very much Sasuke's style of communicating, and it was possible that Kakashi had sent Sasuke his mission summons by his hawk since it would know exactly where to find him. Suddenly the fact that Sasuke had immediately pulled away and disappeared made a little sense, albeit seeing him already after all the things left unsaid last night made things undeniably awkward. Silence still filled the room, everyone looking at the two of them as if they could feel their immediate tension, probably silently wondering what the heck happened in between the two of them. His words and hesitation swirled unforgivingly in Sakura's mind.

Sakura momentarily paused before she strolled over to stand beside Sai, on the opposite end of the room, almost as if wordlessly confirming that something had indeed happened between her and Sasuke, though no one dared to mention anything.

"We have had concerning reports of strange activity happening in the Land of Whirlpools, more specifically the ruins of Uzushiogakure." Kakashi began. This caused a gasp of confusion among the summoned ninja.

"Uzushiogakure?..." Naruto asked. The name of the destroyed home village of his late mother elicited obvious discomfort but curiosity from the yellow haired ninja.

"Yes. As you know, they were well versed in the art of sealing jutsus. They were the creators of many of the sealing jutsus that we use today. We know for certain that much of the village's ruins haven't been explored, as the five nations agreed that the ruin site should be a restricted area. Typically, its jurisdiction and protection initially falls under the duty of the Land of Water and Kirigakure but the Mizukage has specifically asked us the look into it due to the nature of the investigation we need to carry out." Kakashi began. "There has been strange chakra signatures that appear and disappear inconsistently in the old village, and any trackers and sensors that the Mizukage have sent have not been able to track down the source. More alarmingly, there's been a report of medic-nin that are fairly skilled in healing jutsu's going missing." This brought immediate alarm to Sakura.

"Hinata, Naruto, you already know these details since I first sent Hinata out to scout, and you shortly followed Naruto, confirming the presence of the odd chakra." Both Naruto and Hinata nodded.

"The chakra nature we sensed… it was similar to Kaguya's. It's possible that whatever is going on, it could have something to do with the Otsutsuki clan." Naruto stated. This caused both Sasuke and Sakura's eyes to widen, the memory of the battle with Kaguya raging through both of their minds vividly.

"I picked you five specifically for this mission for your sets of abilities. Sasuke, I'm assigning you as the team leader." This earned a disapproving scowl from Naruto, probably because of their rivalry, but he did not say anything or object, something he would have definitely done back when they were younger. Strategy was not the Uzumaki's strongest suite.

"Naruto, you have the most advanced sensing abilities as far as chakra goes. Hinata, the byakugan should help you in sensing as well, hopefully catching the things Naruto may not be able to. Sai, your job will primarily be physical scouting. The use of your ninja art scrolls will be useful without having to physically endanger anyone. Sakura, because of the nature and possible danger of this mission, you have to go as the team's medic. We have no idea what to expect, or what we are going to find. I have explicitly ordered your leave of absence from the hospital and clinic. Do not worry, your jobs have been appropriately delegated." Kakashi paused for a moment. "You are also the most able to defend yourself should you be targeted as a medic-nin." he added.

Based on the down to business like nature that Kakashi was portraying, this was definitely a seriously concerning mission. Kakashi had never been adamant about sending Sakura out on extremely dangerous mission because of her value as a medic. However, if he was sending Sasuke and Naruto as well, he probably felt a little reassured, given their history.

"If no one has any objections to the team and your assignment, I suggest you all leave shortly. Since this is not a simple scouting mission, it will take you all at least two days to get to the Land of Whirlpool with all the appropriate gear." Kakashi closed.

"Yes sir!" All five ninja sounded, accepting their mission.

"Let's meet at the gates in one hour." Sasuke decided, delegating the time to his team. He knew that everyone got the message without any of them replying. Sakura, Sai, Naruto and Hinata immediately left, leaving Sasuke behind alone with Kakashi. Before Sakura excited the room, she shot Sasuke a glance, knowing that he probably disapproved of her being summoned as part of the team and his scowl confirmed it. She didn't say anything though as she left, shutting the door with an audible click.

Sasuke sighed. Great. Just great. He knew that Kakashi had chosen Sakura to be part of the team for a reason, and there was no way he was going to convince him otherwise, but it didn't make him feel any more comfortable with the situation.

"I don't know what happened between you two," Kakashi began. "But the tension you two were emanating was obvious, and I'm not going to ask why. You both are going to have to sort that out or pretend it doesn't exist for the time being. You can't afford to be distracted on this mission."

"I know that." Sasuke snapped, irritation evident in his tone.

Kakashi sighed. "I don't think I have to reiterate that Sakura can more than hold her own in combat if she has to, but she's well off with both you and Naruto." He lectured. "I hope for her sake that what you find wont cause you to leave again soon."

Sasuke was well aware of what Kakashi was inferring to. Nevertheless, he knew that Sakura was in more danger than the rest of them for this mission since whatever was going on, medical nin had been disappearing.

"You and I both know that whether something comes up or not that I won't stay for longer that I feel is necessary. I still have things to investigate."

"Even if that is your resolve Sasuke, it won't change the fact that the both of you have to make things right. You can't leave her hanging this time either. She needs an answer."

Pressure was the last thing that Sasuke wanted to feel at the moment, no matter how right the sixth Hokage was. He wasn't at liberty to discuss their situation to the man anyway.

* * *

The sun was barely beginning to light up the sky by the time all five ninja arrived at the gates. Sakura had been the first one to arrive, waiting silently, pacing while lost in her thoughts before she was joined by Hinata and Naruto who were holding hands.

"You're here early." Naruto stated.

"Yeah I packed before I came to the meeting." Sakura answered curtly. With only Naruto and Hinata there, Naruto brought up a more private conversation.

"What's going on between you and Sasuke? You guys were tense up there." He pried. This irritated Sakura, even though she knew he meant well.

"It's not really any of your business, Naruto." Her voice sounded cold, coming off rude but she didn't care at the moment. She would apologize to Naruto later.

"Naruto-kun, I don't think asking Sakura-chan about it right now is a good idea." His wife suggested.

Naruto seemed as if he was going to inquire about their situation more, despite the fact that Sakura was clearly displaying her agitation and his wife suggested otherwise but Sai arrived, interrupting their private conversation.

"Hey." He greeted. It was weird that he didn't always greet them with the insulting nicknames, but Sai had come a long way in learning how to interact with his peers, especially since he began a serious romantic relationship with Ino.

"Looks like we are just waiting on Sasuke." Naruto pointed out. Ironically, the Uchiha himself appeared shortly after Naruto finished his statement.

"Everyone ready?" Sasuke's tone of voice was monotone, clearly unamused while his question was rhetoric.

"Sasuke! This is going to be like old times! Team seven out on a mission together again!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, throwing a fist into the air as a display of his excited attitude. Sakura gave a small smile of nostalgia. Even though Kakashi wasn't with them anymore, he was right. This was the first time in a very long time that the three of them had been sent out on a mission together. They were all adults now, and some of Konoha's most powerful ninja of their generation.

They began to set out, walking at a brisk pace, exiting the gates of Konoha, leaving their village behind them. It would probably be about a weeks journey to complete their mission in the way Kakashi wanted them to.

"Once we reach the outskirts of the village, we will cut through the forest." Sasuke informed his teammates. "It will cut a little bit of time off travelling."

The rest of the day was rather uneventful while they traveled. Sasuke set a reasonable pace for the group, and it was obvious that he was definitely well versed in travelling in the wilds. They stopped only a couple times, once for a quick break and lunch, for another short break and for everyone to have a few minutes to recuperate and now they were determining on where to settle for the night since the sun was beginning it's descent through the sky.

"There should be a creek in the area. It runs right outside the jurisdiction of the Land of Water." Sasuke stated. "We will camp around there." No one argued. The idea of camping sounded nice since they had been traveling all day.

It didn't seem that long before the creek that Sasuke had mentioned came into view, the water glistening from the light of the setting sun. Sakura was rather relieved at the sight of the creek. She would never admit it, but the lack of missions and her busy schedule had made her more complacent with her physical stamina, leaving her out a little bit out of shape as the exertion of the day's travel seemed to fatigue her more than she remembered. Honestly, Sai could have just created his art beasts to fly them, but it did require a bit of chakra. Sasuke had decided that it was best to conserve all of their chakras to the best of their abilities, and that it would be better to be more discreet. Flying giant artistic birds didn't exactly scream discreet.

They walked along the river, everyone quiet, until they were able to find a little clearing. Even in these peaceful times, criminals did still exist, so they decided to make camp in a clearing that was just a little bit away from the creek inside the forest to avoid any possible chance of them getting caught off guard. Even though the five of them could easily fend off any bandits, old habits did die hard.

Sakura knew that Sasuke was never good at delegating camp jobs, and it had always been her job when they were team seven, even during their time when Sai replaced Sasuke as their team member. She didn't say anything, but each of the boys understood this familiar responsibility of hers.

"Sai, why don't you go get us some wood for the fire? Sasuke-kun can get it going when you've collected enough. Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, why don't you clear an area for us to sleep? A couple of alert traps probably wouldn't be bad. Hinata-chan and I will get some water for the night." Not a single one of the boys complained as they did as they were told, but Sakura did catch the glance that Hinata and Naruto shot each other. She couldn't quite make out what their expressions meant in the receding light, but she guessed that it probably had something to do with trying to get either her or Sasuke to talk about what was causing the obvious tense atmosphere between her and the Uchiha. The tense aura between the two had not dissipated in the slightest as they traveled all day, and for Sakura, in some ways it was worse as she was left to think about everything over and over in her head to pass the time of travelling.

Satisfied with the duties she delegated the boys being taken care of, she grabbed Sasuke's, Sai's, and her personal water container while Hinata grabbed hers and Naruto's. They walked in a comfortable silence, reaching the creek and finding a good spot to kneel and fill all the containers.

"I thought you might ask what's going on between me and Sasuke-kun." Sakura conversed quietly, getting the attention of her friend, as she pulled off the cap of Sai's water bottle, gently submerging it into the cold water of the creek. The initial contact with the frigid fresh water stung at her hands a little. In some ways, she needed to talk about it.

"I would ask, Sakura-chan, but I'm not as good at being straightforward like Naruto-kun. I feel that if you want to talk about it, you will." She replied calmly. "I will listen of course, like you always have for me." Hinata replied as she did the same with Naruto's water container. This was how she always was, Sakura thought. In contrast to Ino, she was a much better listener, and always offered her honest opinion.

Sakura drew in a deep breath, holding it for just a moment before exhaling it, slowly and controlled. She was trying to control the tension that had managed to coil up tightly inside her chest all day. She had managed to fill up Sai's water container and was now working on Sasuke's.

"He's just so confusing! You know how I feel about him hasn't changed, but I'm just not sure about him. His feelings I mean. Sometimes he's reserved and distant… and then he… he-"

"He kissed you?" Those words that came from her shy best friend came too easily, Sakura thought as a blush immediately burned across her cheeks.

"H-how did you know?" Sakura questioned, clearly embarrassed.

"Just a guess. Naruto-kun and I have seen the glances you've given to each other all day, and you've touched your lips a few times." Hinata stated matter-of-factly.

"O-oh." Was all Sakura could say. She didn't realize that those two had been so observant, and despite what Hinata had said, she was strangely straightforward in her own quiet way, while Naruto tended to be more boisterous his straightforwardness.

"I-well, it was almost a kiss. But right before it happened he just got up and left me there. I was so mad at him that night and then…" Sakura paused for a moment as if contemplating on how she should explain the rest of her sentence. "he just said something odd to me that I haven't been able to get out of my head. Like all of this has been my choice all along." She huffed. Hinata couldn't help but stifle a small giggle at seeing her friend so worked up over this, but it coming out as an angry whisper. Sakura frowned at her as if it was ridiculous that Hinata would find anything funny. Sasuke's water container was now full, so she promptly replaced the lid on it as if taking her frustration on his water container would help her feel at least a little better before finally working on filling up her own water container.

I'm sorry it's just that the whispering to keep the boys from hearing us just seems so childish." Hinata reasoned. Her expression did become more serious though, understanding that Sakura really did feel, and was experiencing a lot of turmoil. "Sakura-chan, I think that you know the answer but you want Sasuke-san to answer it for you…" Hinata continued. Sakura knew that Hinata was giving her honest opinion now based on what she knew. "I think that you know Sasuke-kun better than anyone, and you understand him in ways that Naruto-kun doesn't since the nature of your relationships are also different."

"I try to." Sakura conceded.

"But, that being said," Hinata added, "after all this time, feeling like he's finally giving you an answer might be scaring you a little bit because you've been comfortable and okay with being this way with each other for a long time."

That was the part that Sakura realized she didn't want to hear, no matter how truthful it probably was. To be honest, the way things were unfolding now wasn't how Sakura ever fantasized it would happen, and it was also easier to blame Sasuke for the frustration and uncertainty she never thought she would feel upon the possibility of the dynamics of their relationship changing.

"Hinata-chan!" Both girls were startled at the sound of Naruto calling out for his wife, probably as a result of them being gone and talking longer than it would have taken to fill up all their water bottles. It was only a few more seconds before the yellow haired ninja himself emerged from the trees, finding the both of them still kneeling beside the creek.

"Naruto-kun! Did you guys get the camp set up?" Hinata asked, greeting her husband. He nodded.

"Yeah, we are all set up for the night! Sasuke got the fire going. We've been wondering where the two of you disappeared off to."

"Sorry! I'm sure everyone's hungry!" Hinata apologized as she stood up, brushing herself off. Naruto grabbed their water containers from her, a polite gesture as Sakura watched Hinata smile a thank you.

"Are you coming, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, puzzled that the pinkette hadn't made any notion to move or get up.

"Yeah, I just want to wash up a little before eating. I'll be right there." She half lied. Honestly, she just wanted a couple moments to herself. She was glad when Naruto didn't question her any further, shrugging it off. He and Hinata began to retreat to where their camp was, disappearing into the trees.

It was dark now, the moon high in the sky. Sakura was glad that it was a full moon because it offered the best visibility in the dark, and she liked the way it made the water in the creek glitter in it's reflection. It was beautiful, she thought, and it somewhat helped her feel a little more calm.

Though she didn't necessarily get to finish her conversation with Hinata, she had managed to say enough to help Sakura try and see things from a different perspective. It was so unlike herself to be so close minded, but her emotions had gotten the better of her. Hinata was right. Sakura did know what Sasuke was thinking better than anyone else for the most part, and if she had just stopped to analyze what he was communicating between the lines silently like she had somewhat learned to do, she had an answer. The answer just scared her and she didn't want to acknowledge it. In a way, Sasuke was so painfully transparent in a blunt way that made him seem difficult to read.

All of a sudden, his actions made more sense, and she felt a little guilty, but also a little frustrated that his guilt was causing punishment upon himself.

* * *

After dinner, everyone immediately headed off to bed after deciding on who and when each of them would take turns of keeping watch throughout the night. Sasuke decided he would take the first watch, and his mood had been somewhat sour all evening that no one dared object. Sakura noticed that his mood had only seemed worse after she had sent him off with Naruto to do their duties for setting up camp, but the two were closed lipped about it. They would steal glances at each other, but Sasuke would be the first to advert his eyes.

He settled beside a tree, just a little bit away from the main area of their camp as he watched Naruto and Hinata set their sleeping bags close to each other. Sai and Sakura set theirs up as well, both giving the Uzumaki's some space. Sasuke hadn't brought along a sleeping pack since he was all to familiar with sleeping in the forest. It was more comfortable and familiar to him that way anyway. He settled down against a thick trunked tree, gently placing Kusanagi beside his right hip in a way that would make it easy to draw his weapon in defense if he needed to.

Observing Sakura out of the corner of his eye, he watched as she pulled off the belt around her torso and removed the kunai pouch from her thigh, settling them down beside her. It was annoyingly distracting and made him uncomfortable in a place he had to slyly shift. She was chatting with Sai about something, but he couldn't hear what they were saying much to his chagrin. He could see that Sai was giving off an awkward smile though, which made him even more curious as to what had been said between the two and he could visibly see Sakura's shoulders fall in a sigh. He didn't know Sai that well, but he could admit that he had some impressive abilities as a ninja.

When it seemed that they had all settled down, Sasuke relaxed a little, eager to be left to his own thoughts. The conversation he had Naruto had earlier when they were clearing their camp replayed in his head.

" _You messed things up, didn't you?" Naruto stated. "The tension between you two has been obvious."_

" _It's between me and Sakura." Sasuke deflected._

" _You're right, it is, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to ask."_

" _Hn." Naruto prying into it was really beginning to sour his already irritable mood._

" _The grunts aren't an answer you know."_

 _Sasuke could tell that Naruto was becoming tense, and probably irritated at the way that Sasuke was brushing things off. Naruto never had a problem talking with his fists, and in a way, that was how to two communicated when being verbal just wasn't going to convey what they were thinking or feeling. However, Naruto would also be the first the take a swing and a physical knock down was not what Sasuke wanted right now._

" _I told you I would give Sakura answer, I just never promised it would be a favorable one." Sasuke stated._

" _You sound like an ass, you know that? It really rubs me the wrong way." Naruto growled, gritting his teeth._

" _You're an idiot for getting into something you don't understand, Naruto."_

 _This only pissed off his best friend more, as grabbed Sasuke's shirt, clenching his fist into it._

" _I don't know what the hell your problem is, but I have half a mind to punch the daylights out of you for Sakura-chan, you bastard."_

" _I think you and I both know what Sakura is getting herself into if she continues to pursue a relationship with me. It's like you said, she does deserve better. I want her to fully understand what it means, and give her a change to change her mind."_

" _Did you forget the part where I told you that I'm pretty sure she doesn't have an interest in anyone else?"_

" _No." The Uchiha finally saying something seemed to calm down his best friend, as he released his hold on his shirt, but not without a shove._

" _Man up." Naruto demanded. "Regardless of our past, your past, or your insecurities, man up! Sakura… Sakura still loves you, even after knowing exactly who you are."_

" _That's exactly why she needs to understand what she's getting into if we… get involved."_

" _So this is your way of protecting her?"_

 _Sasuke sighed, giving a slight nod. "Yeah." He couldn't believe that he just got a lecture from Naruto of all people to man up about a woman._

What he could have never said directly, or aloud at the time was that he was protecting her from himself if that wasn't obvious to Naruto, and he was failing miserably. He was hopelessly trying to keep his resolve from shattering, but it was being chipped away at much faster than he could control. When he had decided to return to the village thinking that he was ready to involved with his teammates again, with _her_ again, he didn't realize the extent of his own feelings and how they had changed when he saw her again for the first time in a couple years.

The sexual tension that he had hidden away and tried to ignore came crashing into him all at once, without mercy that night upon seeing the exotic beauty she had always been and had perfectly matured into and it absolutely terrified him. In that moment, he realized just how weak he was with emotions, and just how much he had been lying to himself about the way he had always felt about Sakura.

He just wanted her happiness, to see her smiling like she did that night when they talked for hours, even if that meant it was with someone else. The guilt came. He ridiculed himself for his selfishness. He didn't deserve the happiness he knew that she would offer and willingly give him, and he decided it was better to punish himself rather than selfishly ask her to share in his burdens.

It was the easy way out, and he knew it but it was so easy to justify things that way.

That was his resolve he thought, until yesterday. Until he was faced with her raw, honest emotions that unforgivingly assaulted him when her mesmerizing green eyes locked onto his, refusing to let up their intense gaze that sent his very being ablaze. He was weak in that moment, _selfish_ he told himself as he leaned down, wanting to know what at least one kiss would feel like from Sakura's teasing pink lips. That was his justification though when what he really wanted was the hope he was denying himself. He was somewhat disappointed yet relieved at the same time that his messenger hawk had snapped him out of the spell he was under as he swiftly retreated from the woman he had sinfully fallen in love with. His lips had brushed against hers, and he was left to deal with the implications of his selfish actions. He tried to warn her.

When Sakura distanced herself from him today, he wasn't surprised but he couldn't help but feel a painful aching in his chest that was so heavy, it was hard to breathe.

The crackling of the fire and the chirping of bugs was all Sasuke could hear in the silence of the forest, but when the wind blew he could hear the rustle of the leaves on the trees. Comforting in it's familiarity, but he couldn't help but just stare at Sakura as she slept. She was supposed to take the second watch, with Sai taking the third. He knew that neither Hinata or Naruto had slept much since Kakashi had sent them out on the scouting mission, only to have them sent back out on this mission without much time to recuperate. Strategically, he needed everyone as rested as possible and he understood entirely the reason behind Kakashi's thinking. They had endured much worse than this anyway.

* * *

Sakura hadn't realized exactly when she had finally fell asleep when she felt her body being shaken awake. She thought that it would be Sasuke waking her, telling her it was her turn to keep watch over them, but instead when she lifted her eyelids, Hinata's face came into view as her vision began to focus. She frowned, slightly puzzled as she rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes.

"Sakura-chan, it's time to wake up. It's time to get going and we are starting to pack up camp." She informed softly.

"W-what?" Sakura sat up, still trying to shake the confusion. Did Sasuke not wake her up at all? When she finally opened her eyes, she saw Sasuke strapping Kusanagi to himself, and the others putting away the last of their belongings. She was the last one they woke up it seemed. A little embarrassed, she jumped up, stretching her back out quickly before reaching down to grab her torso belt and her kunai pouch to fasten back onto her body. She quickly finished putting away the last of their things when Sai threw water onto their camp fire, drowning the hot flames. It was really early in the morning as it was still dark. Sasuke probably had them wake up early on purpose.

Though Sakura wanted to ask Sasuke about letting her sleep, she knew better than to do so. Given the nature of their mission, and the fact that medical nin had been a target for disappearances, Sasuke probably felt more at ease watching over her rather than her being awake by herself, even if she could hold her own if she were to be attacked. It was just his way of protecting her, even if it meant he didn't get much sleep.

"The port shouldn't be too far from here." Sai informed, one of his ninja scroll beasts in the form of a bird swooping down to them. He must have sent it out a little earlier to scout.

"It will probably take a couple hours to get there." Sasuke added. Uzushiogakure was located on an island in the sea, it's ruins now part of the Land of Waves. Sailing there had always been a little treacherous due to the whirlpools that had surrounded it, hence the name it once inherited. "While the original plan I had come up with would have us on the island by the time the Sun has risen, I think we should spend the day investigating the port town of Shio in order to try and gather more information about the strange activities on that island."

"Won't that extend our original time frame?" Naruto asked, a frown beginning to form on his face.

"It may," Sasuke replied, "but the length of this mission depended on what we might find anyway. In my experience, there can be a lot of valuable information available just by talking to the locals." Clearly, Sasuke was talking from experience. This was something Naruto would not have necessarily thought of, given his typical headstrong, jump into the fray nature.

"I agree with Sasuke." Sai added, siding with the Uchiha. "Collecting as much information as possible is a good idea, especially when we don't have much information in the first place. We are practically going in blind if you consider the fact that we have limited ideas on what to expect."

"I'm not saying that it's a bad idea… I guess I just wouldn't of thought of that." Naruto admitted.

With that, all five of them headed out, ready to start their day. Making headway through the forest was indeed monotonous, especially since there was still an awkward silence like the day before, but Sakura at least felt a little better after talking to Hinata. She could still feel that Sasuke was just as tense as the day before, if not a little more so because she knew that he had not slept much, maybe only two or three hours while Sai took his turn to watch over the group, and that's if he was able to sleep at all himself. Was he used to getting such little sleep due to his last three years of travelling? If so, his physique did an amazing job at hiding it.

As Sasuke had said earlier, it didn't seem all that long before Shio port came into view, holding its place beside the sea. Sasuke guided them to the official traveling roads when they reached the outskirts of the little port so as to not create suspicion of them just appearing out of the forest, a gesture of goodwill and peace in a sense. Shio was not a ninja village by any means, so the people who lived there were mainly civilians. As a port though, they probably had ninja and samurai pass through on a constant basis as they traveled through the Land of Water on their business.

Walking through the East gates of Shio, Sakura noticed that the people didn't seem to pay any attention to her and her teammates, though it seemed that some of them took a second glance at her, probably for her bright pink hair. Her bright pink hair wasn't at all common, and the only other person who even had a semblance of pink hair was her father Hizashi, though his hair was a rather dull shade of it.

"We should split up. It will be easier and faster to work in smaller groups." Sasuke suggested shortly after they had entered the gates. He probably wanted to come up with a plan of sorts before they entered the bustling crowds of people that tightly packed the streets of the small port town. It was like Konoha's market place, but it seemed twice as busy since it was also smaller. The town itself also gave off a more traditional feel, it's roads still made of stone, and many buildings still made of wood. The close proximity of the sea also brought green algae and plants to grow into the buildings, giving the place a funny musty scent mixed in with salty air. It was obvious that this town saw lots of travelers by it's somewhat weathered state.

"Hinata-chan and I are teaming up then!" Naruto announced in response to Sasuke's plan. No one was surprised as they all suspected that would be the case since they were husband and wife. Despite the fact that they could end up distracted, no one bothered to verbally reject that possibility.

"Sakura, you pair up with Sai," Sasuke ordered. Sakura couldn't help but feel her chest fall in disappointment, although she was also relieved at the same time. She really would have liked some one on one time with Sasuke, even if they would have to seriously be working on their mission. At the same time though, she knew being alone with him and the current awkward tension they were avoiding wouldn't be helping their situation at all. Not to mention the fact that if she knew Sasuke, and she did, the fact that he had her pair up with Sai was him indicating that he wanted his personal space.

"Ask around and see what you guys can find out about what's going on with the island. Let's meet back up here in a couple of hours." Sasuke informed. "I don't think I really need to tell you all this, but being obvious and prying too deep will cause suspicion, and might cause some trouble."

"Ask about rumors, fit in, and don't pry…" Naruto repeated. "Got it. Well see you guys!" With that, he grabbed Hinata's right hand with his left, heading off into what looked like a ramen shop with Hinata in tow. It may not be Ichiraku's, but clearly lunch and ramen was on his mind. Sasuke, Sakura and Sai watched as they headed off.

"Okay, well, we will try and find out what we can in the next couple of hours then," Sakura sighed, wondering which way she and Sai should head off. Perhaps visiting the local inn would be the best place for them to start at least. "We will meet back here in a couple of hours. Good luck, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke felt was seemed like a jolt of discomfort upon hearing the way his named rolled off her tongue. It sounded different. Apprehensive, maybe even awkward. It was unusual he thought, but considering how tense things had been the last couple days, he was just glad she was saying something to him.

"Hn." Was all he responded before turning away to head off in his own direction. He had seen Sakura eye the place he would have initially gone to as well, but he could start somewhere else. After all, this wasn't his first time doing this sort of work. When he travelled and stopped to help people in need, he would often investigate rumors first in order to work out a plan to help those in need.

He was ignoring it, a deep unsettling gut feeling, telling himself that Sai was more than capable of protecting Sakura, he couldn't help but feel a little ominous. Irritatingly, their silence and awkwardness towards each other was affecting his decision making.

* * *

The Inn had been the first place that Sakura and Sai and went to investigate, and although their first attempt didn't seem to provide much useful information, after going around the other places in town that the others hadn't already visited landed them back at their starting point.

So far, their information hadn't been much different from what they already knew. Civilians here wouldn't know much about chakra monitoring, but they did notice odd lights from the island that sometimes appeared, and they had seen more ninja from the Land of Waves pass through, wanting to get a closer look at the island. They had also heard of some rumors of people disappearing as well, but for the most part the people seemed to believe that it was just a myth. The only new and possibly pertinent information that they seemed to have acquired was the fact that a local bandit gang seemed to be more active than usual, and it seemed to start escalating once odd things started happening on the island. This made both Sai and Sakura suspect that they might be involved in the recent disappearances of sorts.

"It's really odd." Sakura began as her and Sai began to walk back towards the spot they had originally started their investigation. "It just seems strange that the civilians here really don't seem too bothered or concerned by what's going on around them."

"I agree." Sai replied. "Even as a member of ROOT, when I carried out missions to gather information it seemed like information that the locals had weren't quite so obscure."

"It's like they aren't even paying attention. Not a single person seemed overly concerned about disappearances." Sakura wondered, concern in her voice.

"Though it would seem unlikely, it could be everyone isn't saying much because disappearances around here might be more common than people would like to admit. Many people cope by pretending there isn't a problem, and for a town that depends on tourism for their livelihood, advertising that they have a gang problem or that people are going missing isn't exactly something they would want to do, no matter how bad the problem is." Sai suggested. Sakura agreed. His explanation had plenty of logical sense to it.

"Well, that may be easy enough to put together, but the hard part is definitely decided on what we should do next. If we couldn't get much information, I doubt that the others had much better luck."

"True. It is time to head back and meet up with the others though. There's nothing we can do without hearing what else they were able to find out." Sakura nodded in agreement.

"I suppose you are right." The two of them began to walk back to the main area where the five of them had originally split. Intel gathering had momentarily distracted Sakura from her current problems with Sasuke, but despite the current awkwardness of their relationship, she was still eager to see him. She walked quickly, with Sai close in tow. She was walking with enough force that you could hear the audible clack of the short heels of her ninja sandals.

"Let's cut through here. I think it will get us to where we are meeting faster." Sakura stated, turning towards a darker and more narrow alleyway. Sai didn't seemed bothered to think anything strange of it since the direction was directly towards where they were headed.

He took a couple more steps, seemingly in tow behind Sakura before it seemed like a tangible thick darkness suddenly swallowed her up, an expression of confusion and fear etched clearly on her face as she was about to yell out to him, but no sound escaped.

"Sakura!" Sai yelled frantically, the event unfolding almost too fast for him to react or comprehend. She was just gone, the alleyway now empty as if nothing had transpired at all and not a thing was out of place. Before Sai knew it, everything began to go blank and he couldn't feel himself as he fell to the ground before his world became completely black.

* * *

Well, now what's going to happen?

Sorry about the long wait for this update! Time seemed to slip away way too fast, and I was having a hard time deciding on how exactly I wanted this to set up the events to come, and how I wanted it to end. I decided after all that it was better to just go with something that I felt I could make plausible than not write at all. If I strived for absolute perfection, nothing would ever happen, haha.

Working on the next chapter now. I'm really trying to plan on getting this next chapter out around Christmas at the latest, instead of it taking a few months.

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope I was able to convey the awkwardness and feelings between Sasuke and Sakura in this chapter! Be prepared for some major FEELS in the next couple chapters.'


	5. Shattered

Here I am, working on the next chapter!

I recently watched the Snow White with the Red Hair anime on Funimation with my VRV app, and I am sooooo bummed that I didn't watch it sooner because I had originally thought that the title was silly 'Well, it turns out that it is a pretty fantastic and romantic anime and it seriously inspired me for another SasuSaku fanfic…. I just refuse to start a new one without finishing the one I am working on… So in a way, you could say that it has really inspired me to finish working on this fanfic seriously.

I'm excited for what is to come with this story since the first four chapters were setting up some serious plot points for my story!

Thanks so much for continuing to read Under The Rising Spring!

Dislcaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything related. It belongs to Kishimoto.

* * *

Chapter V: Shattered

* * *

Sai came to with the sound of a crackling fire beside him, the warmth touching the skin on his face and the smell of burning wood drifting into his nose. It took a moment before his eyes finally adjusted, but he could tell that it was well into the evening since the sky was dark. Unfamiliar with his surroundings and feeling a sudden state of panic, he tried to sit up, but his body refused to move. This only caused him to panic more before he heard the familiar voice of Hinata Hyuuga as her face came into view.

"Oh, Sai-kun! You're awake! You most likely still won't be able to move for a while though…" She said softly, a look of concern and worry expressed clearly on her face. She sat beside him, her legs folded underneath her.

"W-what happened?" Sai chocked out. His voice even seemed to fail him. He couldn't really remember anything, but the vivid expression Sakura had on her face as she looked at him in the last moment, her lips moving to call for him, but no audible sound escaping. That expression on her face was etched freshly in his mind.

"Oi! Sai! How could you let yourself be knocked out like that?" Naruto asked as he came to sit beside Hinata. It was evident in his voice that he was stressed.

"I-I can't remember." Sai tried to move, wanting to will his body to at least sit up. Hinata seemingly sensing what he wanted, helped him sit up. Despite trying, Sai only ended up being able to move his fingers. The rest of his body felt unresponsive and numb.

"Sai, take it easy," Hinata reprimanded softly. "Your chakra was completely drained and based on what I could see with my byakugan, your chakra gateways are somehow smaller, and it's disruptive your natural chakra flow. I can't help you more without Sakura-chan –"

"Where is she?!" Sai suddenly asked, panic. The memory of her expression still invading his mind..

Hinata and Naruto looked at each other, exchanging glances as if wondering what to say.

"We don't know Sai. We heard you yell, but by the time all of us could find you, you were out cold and… and Sakura-chan was gone. We looked for her, but nothing." Naruto answered. The worry for his teammate was evident, despite it being obvious that he was trying to remain calm.

"Where's Sasuke?" Sai asked, noticing that the said Uchiha was nowhere in sight.

"He's around but…" Naruto trailed off, as if hesitant to talk about it. "He will come back. It's probably best none of us bother him for a bit. I swear he could kill me with just the aura he was giving off…"

Looking around, Sai was able to recognize that they were in the same area that they had previously camped at the night before. How much time had passed?

* * *

There were no words to adequately describe what Sasuke was currently feeling. Anger, anguish, self-hate, worry, sadness, fear and probably every other negative feeling with a name was swirling around in his chest in a maelstrom of chaos. His chest was heavy, and his gut was wrenched so tight he wanted to hurl the contents of his stomach. He felt like he was suffocating, but most of all, he was fucking furious.

While part of him wanted to beat the living hell out of Sai for losing Sakura, he knew that placing the blame on him wasn't fair. He wasn't there to see what happened, and he wouldn't have an inkling of an idea of what had occurred until he could talk to Sai himself. The whole situation wasn't normal, especially considering that Sai had his chakra completely drained, and that Hinata had sensed that something wasn't quite right with his chakra gates. For him to have been caught so off guard and defeated so easily, exactly who the hell where they dealing with?

He should have listened to his instinct. He should have been there to protect her, and in his own weakness and pride, he made a decision that could cost Sakura her life.

He slammed the tree next to him as hard as he could with his right fist, his feet grinding into the earth below him, not even caring that he had hit it so hard that his hand was starting to bleed as the events of Sakura's disappearance began to replay in his mind.

" _Sakura!"_

 _Sasuke heard her name as clear as day. The voice was undoubtedly Sai's, but panic was evident in it._

 _Shit. Without a second thought, he rested his right hand on Kusanagi, prepared to swiftly draw it in a moments notice if need be as he immediately rushed in the direction of where he heard Sai's voice call out. Why didn't he listen to his gut?! Why did he ignore his better judgement?! Damn his pride! He didn't care that the civilians around him were looking at him puzzled, hushed whispers filling the air as he hurried past them. His feet were noisy against the cold hard ground._

 _He turned into a stone dark alleyway that seemed suspicious, yet a direct direction of where he wanted to go. It wasn't long before he could make out a figure on the ground, definitely Sai as both Hinata and Naruto were approaching him as well. Sakura was nowhere in sight._

" _What happened?!" Sasuke demanded, as if Naruto or Hinata would have the answer, his usual self stoic composure thrown out of a figurative window. It was obvious that he was distraught over his pink haired teammate. Both the Uzumaki's seemed concerned, their calm attitude switched to that one of alertness as their body language portrayed._

" _We don't know." Naruto replied. For once, it seemed that Naruto had a more calm composure than the Uchiha himself. "We just heard Sai scream out Sakura's name and came rushing here ourselves."_

" _This is why bringing Sakura was a bad idea." Sasuke seethed while gritting his teeth. He shouldn't of let her out of his sight. No one was going to dare bring up the fact that the tension between the two of the since this mission began was inadvertently causing issues too._

" _Whoever took her clearly isn't someone inexperienced. Sai isn't exactly someone easy to knock out cold." Naruto observed and reasoned. Sai was clearly out cold on the hard ground as his body seemed almost lifeless and devoid of movement. His breathing was shallow. They were going to have to get him somewhere that he could recuperate and hopefully get some details of what had just happened._

" _Byakugan!" Hinata said, activating the eyes of her bloodline. Her eyebrows furrowed in obvious worry. "I can't sense a single trace of Sakura-chan…"_

Sasuke was interrupted from his memory when he heard Naruto state his name.

"Sasuke. Sai just came to." The Uchiha gave him a murderous glare, but his expression softened slightly as release from the stress of Sai also being knocked out cold got to him. He was supposed to make sure that nothing went horribly wrong on this mission, and he had failed at it.

Without a word, the Uchiha began to stalk off in the direction of where the beast scroll artist was recuperating. He was interrupted however when Naruto grabbed his right arm in a firm grip. Sasuke was about yell at Naruto to let him go, but no words came out upon seeing Naruto's determined, angry yet calm expression, his mouth closed and his lips forming a thin hard line.

"Look, before you go interrogate Sai, you have to calm down. This isn't entirely Sai's fault, and for all we know that could have been any of us easily knocked out cold." Naruto said forcefully. This caused the Uchiha to feel even more frustration upon feeling like Naruto thought he had a place to lecture him yet again.

"Get your hand off me, Naruto." Sasuke threatened, though it was an empty threat. Naruto shoved him off.

"Look, we don't have time for a drag down knock out Sasuke, but you need to calm down and think logically about this. You haven't been logical this whole trip. I get you are upset about Sakura and that where you guys have left things probably isn't helping, but you need to get it together. Do you think that Hinata and I aren't worried about her?!" Naruto spat. "Out of everyone in the village, everyone worries about her the most because she's the only one that doesn't have someone beside her to take of her! She does everything herself and never complains! She takes care of everyone else first because that's just the kind of person she is! The most annoying part is that she does all that because she hopes that you will notice her and that she would be someone worthy to be by your side."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He _knows_ that. Of course he _knows_ that. In the end, it has always been him who didn't deserve _her_. "Don't you think I know that, Naruto?"

"Well if you do, then you need to get yourself together, you ass. Right now the priority is making sure that Sai is stable, and figuring out a plan to find and rescue Sakura-chan… and this time, keep your personal shit out of it." Naruto then turned and stalked away back towards Sai, his rant over though he was clearly irritated.

Even though Sasuke had experienced so many things in the last few years while he was travelling and was now able to view the world in a much different way than he once did, it seemed that it was really Naruto who matured the most overall. When did he become so reasonable and level-headed? Time had changed a lot of things while Sasuke was away, and he realized that he really did need to rely more on the people who cared about him. It wasn't just about being able to relate to others now. It was about acting on it as well.

Clenching his fist, Sasuke also began to head back towards the main area where they had set up camp. He was still furious, and was more than ready to rain down that fury on the one's who took Sakura. The blood that had smeared his hand from him abusing a tree earlier was dried and crusty. He would have to wash it off in the creek before sitting down with the other's and coming up with a plan.

Finding the creek, Sasuke crouched down beside it's bank, his heels digging into the dirt underneath him as he plunged his fist into it, the ice cold water at first stinging at his skin and his wound, but also slightly soothing on the inflammation. He crouched there, staring that the reflection of the moonlight that sparkled in the water and when the dried blood finally washed away, he stood up in a rigid motion and gave a quick shake of his hand to fling the water droplets off before he walked further down to where the camp was.

Coming into view, he could see that Naruto, Hinata and Sai were all sitting and talking quietly, their faces displaying the seriousness of the situation. They stopped talking upon seeing Sasuke approach them, and Sasuke could tell that Sai had guilt written all over his face.

Sighing, Sasuke sat down on the earthy dirt himself, sprawling himself unceremoniously as he pulled Kusanagi's belt and sheath with the sword off his body with his right arm and rested it beside him. Even if they were out of the city and in the concealment of the trees, they all had to be on high alert now.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked calmly.

"It was all a blur…" Sai began as he rubbed his forehead, clearly frustrated that there wasn't much information to give. "Sakura-chan and I turned down that alleyway. She was right in front of me and then it was like suddenly this black void swallowed her up out of nowhere. It came out of nowhere. She looked back at me for help, but then she was just gone. Then before I knew it, I felt like my life had been drained and I couldn't feel my body and everything went black. I should have been able to do something, but I couldn't!"

"Sai, calm down. You still need to rest." Hinata interrupted as he about fell backwards as she caught his weight to help him sit steadily.

"Any ideas on what happened to Sai?" Sasuke inquired, his gaze now fixed on Hinata.

"I don't have nearly the medical expertise that Sakura-chan has, but from my Byakugan and his symptoms it was as if all of his chakra was immediately depleted and his chakra gates have been restrained inhibiting the proper flow of the chakra through his body. He will need to rest to restore his chakra, but I'm not sure what will happen with his chakra gates. If that doesn't get corrected, it might make it so that Sai won't be able to use ninjutsu."

Sasuke frowned. He had never heard of such a thing before in his life. This definitely was not something normal, and was probably caused by something that they had no understanding of. At this rate though, they were definitely one team member down, and knowing that they wouldn't be able to just take off to go find and rescue Sakura and leave Sai by himself, they would probably have to leave Hinata behind to watch over him. That left just him and Naruto to go find Sakura. Even if they were the two strongest ninja in this generation, it still almost took a miracle for them to take down Kaguya, and he had a feeling that they might be up against a similar force. They didn't have a choice. Calling in reinforcements would take too long, and they had to act now to save Sakura. It had already been half a day since she had gone missing.

"I think that we just need to head straight to Uzushiogakure." Sasuke stated. "At this point, I don't think that we will get anywhere by returning back to that town to investigate."

"I agree. Even if we don't have much information to go off of, our best bet to find Sakura-chan would be to go straight to the rumored source." Naruto added.

"Hinata, we are going to have to have you stay here with Sai. We don't have a choice. We can't leave him here alone, but we don't have time to wait until he can move around and fight. That could takeout another day or two." Sasuke decided. Hinata nodded. Even if she did want to go with them, they were right.

"Naruto. We should head for Uzushiogakure. It's night so this is probably going to be our best chance to get there undetected and find Sakura." Naruto nodded.

"Those guys are going to be sorry for taking Sakura-chan. We are not going to let them get away with this."

* * *

Sakura didn't know how long it was before she finally came to, blinking her eyes to try and readjust her focus. She could tell that it was dark, so it was definitely evening time and it wasn't long before she realized that she was completely immobilized. Yanking on her hands and feet, she realized that she had been restrained to a flat slab of rock, her arms and feet shackled down with metal. She inwardly groaned. Her body felt heavy and she felt exhausted. The moon was shining ominously down into the dark room she was imprisoned in, sending a bad chill down her spine.

When her vision fully adjusted, she quickly realized that she was surrounded by destroyed debris, most likely remains of a whole building that had one stood in this place, and that mother nature had began to overtake and reclaim land that was once hers. It didn't take long for Sakura to put two and two together as she quickly assumed that she was most likely in the ruins of Uzushiogakure. The walls of the room she was in were mostly intact, though it must have been a basement room as roots from trees and dirt and come in like a landslide on the other edge of the room.

How did she get here? Who took her? Her mind began to swirl with a flurry of questions as her brain began to try and think of a way to get out of this situation. Certainly had her restraints been ropes, it would have been much easier, but she wasn't given that luxury. Dealing with metal restraints was going to something else entirely to escape from.

Whoever had taken her did it swiftly, and smoothly and Sakura had a deep gutted feeling that whatever she was up against, was not good. She had watched as Sai collapsed to the ground, out cold as he yelled out for her as she was whisked away in pitch darkness and fell unconscious herself.

The room that she was imprisoned in didn't seem to show any signs of life. Not movement, no sound, and no artificial lighting. It was as if she had been shackled here and then left to be forgotten. While she was curious about how and who put her here, her adrenaline began to kick in with full force. Whoever it was, it was best that she get to work on an escape plan before they figured out that she had come to. Even with her super human strength, because of the way that she had been restrained, it would be hard to get enough momentum behind anything to break free of the shackles. One options she though might be to use the heel of her foot to crumble the slab of rock behind her, but that would immediately draw to much attention to her, and she had no idea what she was up against if she were to just make a break for it. At a minimum, she knew that it would be a last resort option, but it still wouldn't guarantee that the anchors that bolted her shackles down would be set free if she did so.

As she was trying to study her surroundings more closely, looking for anything that would give her an advantage, she heard a shrilling scream from what she thought was a man a little ways from her. She snapped her head in that direction, her heart racing wildly in her chest as fear immediately began to consume her chest. Perspiration began to roll down the side of her temple on her face. She had never heard anyone scream like that since the last great ninja war, and it was the kind of scream that she was hoping she would forget, as a fresh new reminder ripped through her memories.

She still couldn't see anything, and could only hear the whimpers of the man and his plea for mercy before everything fell eerily silent again as if this place was once again completely deserted.

Panic was now starting to set in. What on earth exactly was going on here at this place? What did they want with anyone who had any healing abilities? What were they doing to that man? Whatever it was, it didn't sound good, and now Sakura was in a state where she really knew that she needed to find a way to escape and get out of here.

As much as she wished that Sasuke and the others were here to save her now, for all she knew they still might have no idea where she was and how to find her. No matter how reliable her two best friends were, she knew that she also had to rely on herself.

Everything was still dead silent. Sakura couldn't hear footsteps, or movement, or even the chirp of crickets. She pulled on her metal restraints with her arms, seeing if she could break one of the metal links loose, but to no avail. She then tried to do so with her feet and legs, but was still unsuccessful. There was no way that she was going to be able to pull free of these with her strength. Maybe lsshould shatter the slab of rock after all. Based on those screams earlier, she really might be better off if she made a noisy run for it rather than sit here and wait for whoever or whatever it was that elicited those terrifying shrills out of the other man.

Her heart was still beating against her chest, and her breath hitched in her throat as she tried her best to control her panic and fear. It would take a little bit to control her chakra and maneuver it down to the heel of her right foot so that she could deliver an inhuman blow to the rock slab she was imprisoned to. While she was able to do so with no effort and almost immediately to her fists, her feet were a little different, and it would take a little time, even with her level of chakra control. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the point in which she needed to build up her chakra when suddenly a voice that sent immediate fear and chills down her spine rang in her ears.

"Well well, look who has come to."

Sakura's eyes snapped open. How had she not heard anyone approaching? Damn it. She should have went with her strategy when she had thought of it in the first place. Now this was going to make things much more complicated.

In front of her stood a rugged man holding a medieval form of torch light and another who looked out of this world much like Kaguya Otsotsuki did. Sakura's eyebrows furrowed as her brain tried to frantically comprehend what was in front of her.

The rugged man did not look like he was a ninja, as he donned typical gang or thieving attire and wore no headband affiliated to any ninja village. He was bald, but had strange markings and scars that adorned his whole body. He wore a tattered tank top that was black in color, with a grey tattered sash and black tattered pants. He was barefoot, but had a belt tied around the right shoulder and left torso that obviously was for holding some sort of weapon on his back. Sakura couldn't see what that weapon might be.

The other being in front of her, the one that instilled a deep unsettling fear in Sakura was white in color, much like Kaguya, deep white hollow eyes and fanglike teeth. Though he looked like her in a sense, he looked withered, as if his body was wasting away. He wore a black robe himself with a hood, but Sakura could not make out any more detail of him.

"Who are you?" Sakura demanded, her voice low. Right now, as much as her body wanted to shake into a useless form of despair, she had to stay level headed and get these guys to talk long enough for her to finish accumulating that chakra to her heel. It would take longer since she would need to focus on two different things, but she didn't have a choice as this was absolutely her only best bet of escaping now.

"I don't see why a measly human like you girl get's to demand such a thing from me." The being sneered. "But I will tell you anyway since your miserable life is about to become the life force for mine."

Sakura frowned, her gaze intense as she stared at the two in front of her. This was not good.

"My name is Ketsugo Otsotsuki."

"Like Kaguya Otsostuki?" Sakura questioned. She kept her voice low and calm, although you could tell there was a slight waver to it as she did her best to hide the fear in it.

"Ah, you know of my dear cousin?" Kestugo asked, seemingly surprised and curious at Sakura's words. Sakura feigned a smirk.

"Yeah, we kicked her ass!" She bragged, wondering what reaction this would elicit from the strange man. In a flash of a second though, the other man immediately had a large calloused hand wrapped tightly around her throat, choking her. Sakura immediately began to panic.

"Let her go now Zanazu." Ketsugo ordered. "Keep your anger under control… after all, I need her alive."

It was a few more seconds before the man unwrapped his unforgiving hold around her throat, causing her to cough as she gasped for the air that her lungs had just been deprived of. It was a moment before Sakura could speak.

"You better watch your mouth around my lord, wench. I would take a lot of pleasure in killing you." Zanazu threatened as he returned to his masters side.

"What… what do you need me for?" Sakura asked. Great. She was now in a bad position as the ordeal she just went through interrupted her chakra focus and she was now going to have to start building her chakra in the heel of her foot.

"Well, from what I understand, you are special, Sakura Haruno." Ketsugo began. This caused the pinkette's emerald eyes to widen with shock.

"H-how do you know my name?" Sakura inquired. This situation was by now far more dangerous than she could have imagined.

"It took a little research Haruno-san, but other than Tsunade herself, you are the only one who has exactly the capabilities I'm looking for."

Sakura was puzzled for a moment. What did he mean by that? But then, it suddenly dawned on her. The only special techniques that her and Tsunade had were the creation rebirth techniques that basically almost immortalized its user. Tsunade used part of that technique to stay looking so young.

"It's not an ability that can just be passed on." Sakura stated, now knowing why Ketsugo was interested in it. It was obvious by the signs of decay on his body that he was looking for a way that he could live longer. The creation rebirth only worked on the user though, and could just be used by anyone else.

"Oh, but my dear. That is where you are wrong. See, I am Ketsugo Otostsuki and I specialize in chakra gate controls. In fact, I had to immediately use an inhbiting technique on the male that was accompanying you. The creation rebirth technique does indeed take very meticulous chakra control, but who do you think originated that special little ability? Unfortunately, I had never thought of such a technique that you mortals have. Unfortunately unlike my cousin however, I am not granted immortal life, so I have been living in a dimension where time has moved much slower than in this dimension. Now I am getting old."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"It took me a while to find you, Sakura but you see, I need you. I plan to extract all of your chakra which will tell me exactly how the technique works. After all, we wouldn't want the original master of chakra control who granted all you mere humans an inkling on this ability to die."

"Us humans are not just living beings you can toy with." Sakura shot back. A glare set on her face as determination began to build within her body. He was no different from Kaguya. Still as self serving and self righteous as that woman had been.

"Heh. I really could care less about your kind." Ketsugo remarked. "Nor do I care to explain any more to you."

"Is that… is that what you guys were trying to do with the man I heard earlier?" Sakura interjected, ignoring the fact that Ketsugo had just stated that he was not interested in giving any more information. Regardless, she had to try and distract him just a little bit longer. She was pooling chakra to her heel as fast as she could, and although she probably won't have time to gather as much as she would have liked, she needed to get to where she had just enough.

"Oh that? Well, I needed something to help me temporarily stay alive until we could find you." Ketsugo replied.

Sakura was taken aback. So he was literally draining the life of other healing chakra users to extend his life temporarily? How cruel! Those other victims are dead due to this selfish prick.

"Now, I really don't care for anything else you have to say. Zanazu, expose her torso. We will place the seal there and extract the chakra. I'm done waiting." Ketsugo commanded, waving the man off. Zanazu moved towards her, ready to fulfill his master's demand without a word. Things were getting really bad now. Sakura watched as the man inched towards her, a disgusting grin on his face.

Just a little closer! Just a little more and Sakura would use the chakra built up in her heel to try and escape. It was her only chance. Just as the man came close enough begin ripping off the obi on her torso so he could get to her qipao underneath to expose her, mustering all of her might she yanked her right foot up, ready to slam her heel into the rock behind her. Just as her heel was about to make contact with the rock however, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her gut as she stared wide eyed at Zanazu who had punched her mercilessly in her gut. Air vacated her lungs in an instant as she was winded and the sharp pain of what was mostly likely broken rib bones seared through her entire body and she screamed out in agonizing pain. Everything went black.

* * *

"How exactly do we plan on getting across this?" Naruto asked. It was pitch black, and there was not way that they could see Uzushiogakure in the distance, but the both of them knew that crossing the body of water would be no easy feat between the scattered whirlpools that they would not be able to see and trying to get over there inconspicuously.

"We are going to have to fly." Sasuke stated without a second thought leaving the yellow haired ninja to immediately become confused.

"Fly? But Sai-"

"With Susano'o, you idiot." Sasuke explained. "I will take us over there."

"Won't that be too conspicuous and use a lot of chakra?" Naruto asked, almost dumbfounded.

"Probably, but at this point we don't have a choice. If we are found out it might take their attention from Sakura which we might need." Sasuke reasoned. A valid point.

"Okay, but how the hell does that work?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious. While he was busy stating that, Sasuke had already made a form of Susano'o.

"Don't ask questions. Just get on." Sasuke demanded as he took a step onto the purple form of his chakra. Naruto stepped on as well, doing as he was told. After all, they really didn't have time to stand around and talk.

Sasuke willed Susano'o where he wanted to go, straight into the direction of Uzushiogakure. They were travelling quickly, watching for any signs of movement or notice from the island, but there was a single light to give any indication of anything on the deserted island. It was strange… until suddenly a scream pierced the only sound of rushing wind in both Sasuke's and Naruto's ears. Realization dawned on both of their faces.

"That… was definitely Sakura." Naruto stated. Sasuke watched as his comrade immediately became tense, gritting his teeth and fists clenched as he was ready to fly into the fray with the power of Kurama. Sasuke gripped Kusanagi so tight his knuckles were turning white. His chest tightened up into a painful knot of fear and anger. When they could see land below them, and the ruins of a village that once stood on this island, they landed and immediately took off running to towards the rubble. Sakura was definitely here.

* * *

"Master, someone's here. There are definitely two strong chakra signatures that suddenly appeared and they are headed this way." Zanazu informed. He was holding a now unconscious Sakura up. Ketsugo had already placed the chakra seal on her torso that would allow him to extract the chakra from her.

"Lay her down and go deal with them Zanazu. This is going to take some time. She won't be waking up ever from this." Ketsugo instructed, an unpleasant grin on his face. He chuckled sadistically. There was no way that a mere two people were going to stop him, even if they were here for this little pinkette.

He was finally going to be immortal.

* * *

"Naruto, up ahead." Sasuke announced. Both of them sensed a chakra signature straight in front of them. They kept running, suddenly hearing a crack reign down into the earth similar to what it sounded like when Sakura punched it. The earth began to shatter beneath them causing both ninja to jump of the of the way and to a higher place of safety. Suddenly, the whole place lit up, like all the torches that were scattered had been lit at the same time. These were definitely ruins of a village that once stood here, but it had clearly been ruins for while as mother nature had moved to reclaim it.

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke demanded upon seeing a large bald headed man below him with a scowl and smirk on his face.

"I am Zanazu. You will not be going any further, ninja." He replied. Sasuke had distracted him enough that a few of Naruto's shadow clones had gone flying at the man, knocking him backwards toward a tower of debris.

"Sasuke! I'll take care of him. Go find Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled confidently. "I'm going to beat the smirk right off this guy's face."

Sasuke understood immediately what Naruto wanted him to do and without a word, he rushed off while Zanazu was trying to pull himself out of the rubble and get back on his feet.

Sakura. She was all he could think about, but his chest felt heavy and his mind went mad trying to think about what state he would find her in after hearing the anguished scream that had pierced the night sky earlier. He could sense her chakra, although it seemed weird. It made him even more concerned as he rushed into the ruins.

The sight he came to when he finally reached her made him want to vomit as his worst fears were realized right in front of his eyes.

Sakura laid there, motionless and seemingly lifeless as a figure that was eerily similar to Kaguya was hunched over her, clearly draining the chakra from her body. Her obi than protected her torso had be carelessly tossed over to the side.

Anger welled up in Sasuke, his Sharingan and Rinnegan immediately activated. This asshole was going to pay for what he had done to Sakura. He was going to kill him.

In an angered yell, Sasuke ran at the man to tear him away from Sakura, but he casually dodged out of the way, his form filled an agile.

"You mortals are so amusing." He chuckled. "It's too bad that I needed this woman's chakra she might have made excellent entertainment for me." He taunted, wiping his lips.

Sasuke immediately went to Sakura. His body shaking angrily at the condition that she was in. She was ghostly pale, blood trickling down from the edge of her mouth. Her qipao was open at the torso with a wretched chakra seal etched on her skin. Sasuke could tell that she was still breathing, but just barely. If he had been even a few moments later…

"Who are you? An Otstotsuki?" Sasuke interrogated coldly. The familiarity of his avenging instincts came flooding back to him.

"Oh? So you know of us?" Ketsugo inquired, intrigued. "I'm assuming you must know that woman over there? She had mentioned something about Kaguya."

"I sealed Kaguya. Though you don't seem to bed nearly as strong as her." Sasuke retorted. For a split second, he could see an expression of fear cross the god's face before he replaced it with a smirk.

"Well, I'm not Kaguya. I honestly have no quarrel with you, human. I merely just need this one so I can go back to living peacefully in my domain."

Sasuke lifted Kusanagi and pointed it up at the pathetic excuse of a god before him.

"I won't allow you to do anything else to Sakura. So if you have no quarrel with us humans, I suggest that you run." Sasuke threatened. Ketsugo laughed.

"You? Do you think you can take me on all by yourself and protect that wretched woman at the same time?" He observed Sasuke closer. He had noticed the red glow of his eyes a moment earlier, but now he was certain. "The Sharingan and Rinnegan… I've heard of you. You're him aren't you? Sasuke Uchiha?" The god inquired.

"What of it?" Sasuke snapped.

"The last Uchiha? Wouldn't it be a treat to finish wiping you off the face of existence!"

Sasuke sent a chidori through his blade, ready to wipe the smirk off Ketsugo's face. Without another second of hesitation, he lunged at him. He brought chidori and Kusanagi down on him swiftly, but was caught by surprise when the god caught his blade with his bare hands, a smug smirk on his face.

"I hope that's not the best of your abilities, Uchiha." Ketsugo taunted. "Because it would be a shame if it were I, Ketsugo Ototsuki that wiped you off the face of the earth." And with that, he gripped Kusanagi mercilessly, yanking his arm back and flinging Sasuke off. Sasuke had no choice but to let go of his sword as he landed back on the ground beside Sakura while Ketsugo flung off his favorite weapon to the side.

Sasuke knew that this fight was going not going to go easy. He watched as the deep cut made from his blade disappeared off of the mans hand, healing without a trace. This was probably a result from him sucking the chakra out of Sakura. His instant self healing abilities was not going to be an easy factor to deal with, even if he wasn't that strong. Just what exactly was he doing with her?

Eying Kusanagi, Sasuke made a run for it to grab his sword. He was thwarted of his attempt however when Ketsugo came at him, causing him to jump out of the way just in the nick of time to run back to Sakura. He knew the technique that the god was about to unleash all too well as it was the exact same as Sakura's. The ground underneath his feet began to crumble in an instant, and he had barely enough time to get Sakura out of the way. He was going to have to find a safe place for her. He had most likely suffered a lot of internal damage that he could not see on the surface currently, and moving her around a lot was a bad idea.

* * *

"Done already fox?" Zanazu taunted.

"Ha! No! I'm just getting warmed up." Naruto retorted. It was really time that he put an end to this. He didn't want to utilize more chakra than he had to, but he could sense that the situation that Sasuke was in wasn't great either, especially with Sakura.

He began to form a rasengan in his hand. He was just going to have to finish this guy off.

"I'm sorry but I just don't have time to be wasting around with you." Naruto half apologized. He quickly summoned several shadow clones this time, making by far more than he previously had, causing a look of terror to cross Zanazu's face.

Without another moment of delay, Naruto and his shadow clones charged at him.

"Rasengan!"

* * *

Sasuke heard a loud explosion that momentarily distracted both him and Ketsugo as they both quickly looked in the direction in which the explosion came from. It was probably a result from the battle Naruto was having the guy that they had met on the way here. Before either of them knew it though, Naruto came flying, landing a solid punch right in the face of Ketsugo, sending him flying into a mountain of debris with an audible crack.

"Where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked demandingly.

"She's somewhere safe for the time being. She's in bad shape though." Sasuke replied. The murderous expression on his face was apparent however.

"Well let's kick the crap out of this guy and go home!" Naruto announced, cloaking himself in Kurama's chakra. Sasuke grunted murmuring a 'show off' under his breath before summoning half of Susano'o, donning him with a bow and arrow with the flames of Amaterasu. Naruto was already forming another rasengan by the time Ketsugo had managed to stand back up on his two feet. Upon seeing the sight in front of him, a look of terror ran across his face.

"You will never hurt anyone ever again." Sasuke seethed as Susano'o drew back its arrow engulfed in the flames of ameterasu.

"Y-You! You are the ones who took out Kaguya! And she-she must have been-" It was as if realization suddenly dawned on him that he had messed with exactly the wrong people. "You guys are the legendary-"

"Amaterasu!"

"Rasengan!"

Nothing was left after the explosion of where Ketsugo once stood as both Naruto and Sasuke had blow it away. They may have overdid it a bit as half the ruins were now an even more messy pile of rubble, and the boom of the explosion would definitely be heard for miles away.

Subtle would not be the way Kakashi will put it when he gets all the complaints about them later.

With both Susano'o and Kurama's chakra cloak fading, both Naruto and Sasuke rushed back to Sakura.

"You weren't kidding when you said that she was in rough shape." Naruto commented cautiously. "We need to get her home."

"Naruto," Sasuke said, his demeanor somewhat calmer, though it seemed that whatever he was going to say next he had a hard time wanting to say. "Can you carry her? I think she has a few cracked ribs and we shouldn't risk it causing more internal bleeding."

Naruto could tell that this was hard of Sasuke to ask, but he also knew why he did, so he wasn't going to say anything on the matter. While Naruto had graciously agreed on having a prosthetic arm to replace the one that he had lost, Sasuke had chosen to forego his, as a reminder and repentance of his past. It would be difficult to say the least for Sasuke to carefully pick her up and hold her in one arm.

"Yeah. Let's get her home." Naruto crouched down to gently pick up his female teammate before standing up with her cautiously in his arms.

"I have enough chakra to fly us back to the camp but -" Naruto could sense the panic laced in Sasuke's voice, even if he was maintaining a sense of composure on the outside.

"It's okay. We will figure out something once we get back. Hopefully, Sai will be more recovered and Hinata-chan can help get Sakura-chan stable."

* * *

By the time both Sasuke and Naruto returned to the camp, both Hinata and Sai greeted them with relief, and a little panic.

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-san!" Hinata exclaimed as she quickly hurried over to them. She could tell that Sakura was in bad condition upon just looking at her.

"Hina-chan, we found her. But she's badly hurt. Can you take a look at her?" Naruto asked.

"What happened?" Sai inquired, a look of worry evident on his face.

"We can give you details later… I'm surprised you are up already." Naruto replied as he moved to lay Sakura gently down on one of the sleeping bags by the fire.

"It happened a little bit ago, but suddenly it felt like all my energy came back." Sai replied.

"I looked at his chakra gates and they seem normal again too. I don't know what they did to Sai, but whatever you guys did to the guys who must have taken Sakura seemed to fix it."

"Most likely a seal was placed on Sai and we didn't see it. The seal probably disappeared once we defeated them." Sasuke offered, as he moved to sit beside Sakura. The seal that was on her abdomen was now gone, but the bruising from her internal bleeding was beginning to become apparent.

"This is bad! We need to get her to a hospital now!" Hinata exclaimed, her byakugan activated. "She's definitely bleeding internally. Her chakra is still severely depleted. Sasuke was panicking inside. Even though they had beat the living crap out of the guys that did this to her, Sakura was still suffering. She was still in danger of losing her life. He clenched his fist.

"Let's pack up immediately. Sai, do you think you can fly us back."

"I can, but I can only make two birds right now." He confirmed. Though he felt much better, it stake a while before he had a reasonable amount of chakra stores again.

"In that case, Sasuke you and Sai fly back with Sakura. Hinata-chan and I will pack up and travel on foot. Neither of us are an emergency right now."

Even though he was supposed to be the leader on this mission, Sasuke didn't care that Naruto was doing all the thinking, because he was thinking along the soame lines of Naruto anyway. His only priority was getting Sakura back.

* * *

Ooooookay…. So, I really suck at writing fighting scenes, but I hope that it was at least written well enough that you could imagine what was going on!

The next chapter is going to be the most exciting one for me to write because there is going to be huge developments between Sakura and Sasuke.

Thank you for reading and please take the time to review! I have so may silent readers, and I do put in quite a few hours to try and write every chapter, so I appreciate it when you leave your thoughts!


	6. Desideratum

Hi Everyone!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their holidays! It's been a crazy few weeks, but with Christmas now over, things are calming down a little bit as we go into the new year. 2017 was a really rough year for me, and year of a lot of growth, so I'm hoping that 2018 might be a little easier!

Looking over the last chapter, I do feel that at some point I will probably go back and add more details into the fight scene at the end of the chapter. It was in my opinion, a little bit rushed, but I am working on my creative writing.

I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter! Though not everyone has something to say, It's really amazing to see how many follows, favorites, and over all page visits I get on this story! So thank you! But to those who take the time to review, I really do appreciate the thoughts you leave!

My husband recently custom built a computer for me, and I am so excited to finally have something other than my little tablet with bluetooth keyboard to use! It made writing a little painful on a small keyboard, and it is so nice to have a full size keyboard again. I've always been a fast typer and so I'm hoping that this will inspire me to get down and write a little more often!

As always, I do not own Naruto or anything related. I purely like to write my own stories about them. Thanks Kishi!

* * *

Chapter VI: Desideratum

* * *

Everything felt so heavy. It felt like some invisible force was pushing Sakura down into what she realized was… a bed? Willing her eyes to open, she does so slowly, her vision blurry and trying to adjust. The room was illuminated and bright and Sakura wondered if she had died. Was she dreaming? But as her eyesight seemed to have returned and focused, she immediately recognized the various things that were in the white room.

Konohagakure hospital! She would have shot up in bed in a surprise, but her body's response was sluggish. Wait, but couldn't she of dreamed this place up? Of course if she was dead, she would want to be somewhere that she was really familiar with. Sakura managed to sit up, her torso pounding with a dull ache. She slowly reached her right hand down to her stomach, the memories of what had last occurred all of a sudden replaying in her mind. She had to be dead! There was no way that the pain she had felt would all of a sudden be all gone! The pain was still fresh in her memory, making her almost want to vomit. Everything, that man, and that strange Otsotsuki god came flooding back, and her body began to tremble at the realization that she had been absolutely terrified.

The peace had made her forget that terrified feeling in a way. While life still went on like the normal days of war with average daily missions the village sent ninja to complete, she had become complacent in thinking that she would never experience such pain and fear again. Maybe she had even become a little full of herself, being one of the most powerful female ninja in the known world. She was only human, fragile and with only one life, and this starkly reminded her of that.

Sakura was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice that her former teacher had quietly entered the room until she plopped on the bed beside her, quietly waiting for Sakura to react.

"Tsunade?" Sakura asked tentatively, her voice shaky as if she was afraid to have said it. Sakura had no idea when, but her eyes began to water, teardrops threatening to spill from them.

"Sakura-chan. You're awake! You're okay!" The look of relief was clear on the face of her teacher as Tsunade reached over and embraced Sakura into a tight hug. It was a little strange at first, as Tsunade was not one to show tender affection having her own spitfire personality and temper, and this in a sense began to make Sakura really panic a little as the tears spilled from her eyes.

"This isn't a dream is it?" She asked quietly.

"What?! Ha no!" Tsunade snorted. Well, the Tsunade Sakura knew was back. "I didn't come rushing back here to fix my best pupil up for nothing! Geez kiddo." She smirked. "You really got yourself messed up this time." She added softly, ruffling her hair. "Thank god Sasuke-kun got you back as quickly as he did. Any longer and you probably would have died right on the operating table. I was able to fix you up, but the dull ache… that will take a little while to go away. It will take some time for your body to fully heal." Sakura's heart skipped a beat hearing his name.

"Sasuke-kun! Wait, where's Naruto, and Hinata-chan and Sai?" Sakura exclaimed, almost in a panic.

"Hey, calm down. They're all fine. In fact, all these flowers here were left by them and some of your other friends. They were all really worried about you and having been coming by to check on you. You've been out cold for a week." Tsunade informed. "I had to make that damn Uchiha go home because he had left your bedside for three days after you came out of surgery. Of course after he went home and got cleaned up, he came right back until Kakashi called on him. It was so out of character for that guy."

Sakura blushed. He had been here with her the whole time? He was the one who had gotten her home, and saved her life? How would she be able to face him after all this?

"Well, anyway, I'll have one of the nurses come in and check on you. If you are feeling okay we can probably discharge you later this evening, but you won't be coming back to work for at least another week." Sakura groaned and was about to protest this knowing full well that she was probably already drowning in the work she was going to have to catch up on, but Tsunade was demanding. "I know that face. Don't even think about it. Since I'm here already, I'm going to stick around and do your share for the time being." Tsunade announced nonchalantly. "And there's no buts. You need to get some rest... When was the last time you took time off anyway? You've gotten too thin!"

Tsunade had always been like this. She had always managed to be kind, motherly, and reprimanding at the same time. A short silence fell between the two women.

"Tsunade… thank you." Sakura softly said. She was overwhelmed knowing that so many people cared about her.

"Of course kiddo." Tsunade replied. "I'll let everyone know that you are awake. You might get some visitors later. That damn Naruto has been bugging me non-stop about letting him know how you're doing." She trailed off as she stood up and brushed herself off. Sakura had just noticed that she had donned her green coat again and it brought back old memories. "Get some rest, and call if you need anything." And with that, Tsunade ruffled her hair one more time before turning to leave the room, her heeled ninja sandals clacking on the floor as she exited the room.

Sakura turned to look out the window. The sky was the same beautiful blue, with white fluffy clouds floating about. Winter was going to pass soon, and she knew that within a little while, the cherry blossom trees would probably start to bud and bloom soon. She looked over to the little table set up in the corner of the room opposite of her, decorated with flower and little candies. She would have to get up and take a look at them as soon as she felt like she could.

She began to wonder about Sasuke. The last time she had seen him was when they had parted ways in that little port town to investigate and he had nonchalantly paired her off with Sai much to her relief and disappointment. She couldn't stand the way things were between them, but then again, when had she ever been able to? She had always done her best to be strong and patient when it came to him, and understanding, but the frustration was beginning to become a little overwhelming. She had let herself enjoy his company a little too much since he had returned she thought, and maybe thought that this time things would be different as he teased her with little notions that seemed like he might be returning her feelings, but it was like he was hot and cold.

Then again, he did things like how he had softly brushed his lips against hers, giving her a soft yet intense expression. The look of his face was etched in her memory as fresh as the night it had happened. Would confessing her feelings again change anything? She had thought that she had made them clear, and that Sasuke didn't need to be overburdened by hearing them again and again, and she hated the way it made her feel like she was being annoying and persistent. But wasn't she being persistent anyway by not having pursued a relationship with anyone else? Her heart was stubborn. If he truly decided that being with her wasn't possible, would she be able to be happy with anyone else? Would they be able to make her feel the way Sasuke made her feel?

Then fear began to settle in her stomach. The reality that she would eventually and inevitably die someday. How could she spend her life just waiting?

* * *

Irritation would be the nicest way to describe what Sasuke was feeling at the moment. His irritation had only increased upon receiving a message via hawkmail from the sixth hokage that Sakura had regained consciousness and here he was, way out in the middle of fucking nowhere, surrounded by sand of all things. He hated sand. All he wanted to do was be beside Sakura. It was bad enough that Tsunade had sent him away because he needed 'to shower' as she put it and get some sleep, but then Kakashi had called him out for a simple errand mission. Seriously, couldn't he have gotten someone else to deliver the message? He should have told the old man no, but he was persistent that he go.

Maybe it was for the best though because Sasuke had a lot of pent up frustration, and watching Sakura almost lifeless in her bed save for her breathing was beginning to drive him a little crazy.

He was fine with it all, until Naruto also demanded that he tag along to 'make sure he didn't do anything dumb' and Kakashi had zero objections to it. Though Naruto put it that way, he knew that he was just worried about Sasuke's mental well being after seeing the way that Sakura's condition had affected him. It was all but obvious to the yellow haired ninja how Sasuke felt about Sakura. He had displayed it in plain sight for everyone to see without having to mention a single word about it.

It was hotter than hell out in this dessert, the sun high and blinding in the sky as they made their way towards Sunagakure to deliver some important things to Ino who had been sent there in Sakura's stead. The two had opened up a mental health clinic there shortly after the war to help affected children. Sakura had spent a while in Suna getting it up and running and finding the right personnel to take charge of it.

The trip had been mostly silent between the two male ninja. It would take about three days to complete at their pace, and Sasuke wasn't wasting any time. He didn't want to be out here any longer than he had to.

They spotted a familiar rock formation up ahead, that offered shade to weary travellers in the dessert. Though Naruto seemed more familiar with it, Sasuke had stopped there himself a couple times, but generally never travelled this way.

When they reached the shade, it was a welcome relief from the heat as the two of them sat down on the cooler sand, wiping the sweat from their faces and both eager to take a drink of water from their containers.

"Dude, seriously your chakra is giving out a pretty murderous aura." Naruto commented, breaking the silence they had pretty much had the entire trip so far.

"I got sent on this stupid delivery mission, and YOU had to tag along." Sasuke mumbled, taking a gulp of his warm water.

"Well, I couldn't leave you alone with the state your in, asshole." Naruto retorted, taking another drink of his own warm water. Silence fell between the two again.

For the first time in a long time, Sasuke felt the fear of losing someone important to him, and that feeling drove him mad. That feeling led him down a very dark path once, and it was something that he hated to remember. He had worked so hard to get away from all of that. He had convinced himself that Sakura would be safe at home in the village surrounded by the people he trusted, and that he was okay with it that way, but was he really okay with just that?

"Sasuke… you probably are going to leave Konoha again sooner than later, aren't you?" Naruto continued, bringing up a topic that he probably was tentative to talk about.

"What makes you assume that?" Sasuke responded, though Naruto was right. The encounter with another Otstotuki only made it more clear to him that he had something he had to investigate, and it would take him away from the village. Honestly, Sasuke was okay with that.

"I think that it's safe that I know my best friend pretty well." Naruto joked, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, a habit he had Sasuke noted, whenever he talked about anything that made him uncomfortable. "Not that it particularly bothers me, but…" he trailed off.

"Sakura." Sasuke interjected. Naruto looked at the ground as if he suddenly found something in the sand interesting, as if trying to decide on what to say next, or if he should even explore the topic further.

"She's going to be devastated. She won't say it, and she will probably try to hide it, but I know that she will be. Especially if things get left where they are between you guys." Naruto elaborated. Sasuke sighed. He could tell that Naruto was hesitant to bring this up, but it wasn't like they had a ton of time to talk man to man, and Sasuke was not a man of many words. He could just brush it off, but what good would that do? He wasn't going to be able to ignore it forever.

"I don't intend to just leave things. It's not like I would just leave without saying something." Sasuke reassured, beating around the bush.

"I think you know that's not what I meant. I mean, yeah of course you need to tell her that you are leaving. But Sasuke, are you really okay just leaving her? Would you be okay if she moved on if you rejected her, or if she decided to be alone for the rest of her life?"

"I don't think she would be alone forever. I just want her to be happy and live a long life. Even if I'm not in the picture. I would never be able to settle down and stay. You know that."

"When are you going to stop lying to yourself and being a coward?" Naruto asserted. The question to his response caught Sasuke off guard, ticking him off a little at being called a coward. "Look, I know that you wanted to give her a chance to back out or whatever, but I don't think that waiting on her is an option anymore. She's probably frustrated as hell with you."

"It doesn't change the fact that I can't give her what she really wants." Sasuke reiterated. Naruto let out an irritated sigh.

"Do you think that the way things are now is what she really wants? So what would that change?" Naruto asked. "At least if you quit being a stubborn ass about it, she would have you. Even if it's not in the way she might had dreamed… at this point though, I think Sakura-chan is okay with that. She knows that's just the way that you are, and she still loves you anyway."

"Naruto, I can't be responsible for her." Sasuke stated. He clenched his fist. He can't. He was responsible for her, and she almost died. And if she had, he would never be able to find his way back to the light. He would never be able to live with that guilt. The events that had just transpired were cruel. It made him want to be with her like crazy, but at the same time made him realize even more why they should never be together. Fate was cruel.

"No, you don't want to be responsible for her. You are scared." Naruto accused. This set Sasuke off.

"What do you know?" He growled. "You have no idea how I feel!"

"Yes I do!" Naruto challenged. "I know how you feel better than anyone! You need to stop punishing yourself with this! I know you are scared to lose Sakura, but that's exactly why you need her, and you know it! You need her so much you can't stand it, and it scares the shit out of you!"

Sasuke was seething, but who was he kidding? Naruto was right, and he hated it. He needed Sakura. He wanted Sakura. Naruto was here driving the point home, telling him to stop doing what he knows is logically the right thing and be selfish. It was driving him crazy. She was driving him crazy.

He didn't reply to Naruto, but it seemed mutually understood that he didn't need to as Naruto didn't push the topic any further, having said his two cents, his point through. He had accomplished what he meant to. Sasuke knew that talking with Sakura when he got home would be inevitable.

* * *

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata exclaimed, her eyes bright and expression happy as she came into the hospital room, and embraced her best friend into a hug. "I'm so glad you are okay!"

"Hinata-chan… It's so good to see you! Where's Naruto?" She asked, surprised that it wasn't her in tow with her husband.

"He went with Sasuke-san on a mission! Tsunade said you are good for discharge, so I thought I would accompany you home!" She offered. Sakura nodded, offering a small smile.

"Thank you! I would appreciate that!" Sakura replied, grateful that she had become such good friends with Naruto's wife.

"I brought over your civilian clothes! I hope you don't mind. I used your spare keys to get them." Hinata said, as she set the bag she had brought with her beside the bed.

"Of course I don't. Changing out of these hospital clothes will be nice. I miss home." Sakura confessed.

"Okay! Well I will let you get ready! I'll be right back!" Hinata said, as she stood up and left the room. Hinata was also in her civilian clothes, a long light grey skirt, and a pink tee with a black long sleeve shirt layered underneath.

Sakura had felt much less sluggish after being awake for a few hours. The ache in her torso was definitely there, but it was nice to be able to move around. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she set the covers off to the side and grabbed the bag that Hinata had left behind, picking it up and heading towards the bathroom to get changed.

It took a few minutes to get her civilian clothes on, and Hinata had graciously put her hairbrush in there as well, which Sakura was very grateful for. She would definitely take a good long shower when she got home.

Hinata returned shortly after.

"Are you ready to go, Sakura-chan?" She asked, peeking into the room.

"Yeah. Let's go." Sakura chimed, as she finished tidying up the hospital room. She put all the gifts that her friends had left her in her bag to take home, but unfortunately there was no way that she would be able to take all the beautiful flower home with her.

The walk out of the hospital seemed to take forever, but Sakura felt so loved at everyone being so happy to see that she had been okay. The news that Sakura had almost died spread through the hospital like wildfire.

"So," Sakura began as they finally excited the hospital and began walking the streets that lead to her house, "What did Sasuke-kun and Naruto get sent off for? When will they be back?" Her voice probably sounded a little too eager at wondering when they would be back.

"They left yesterday. Sasuke-kun seemed really irritated that Kakashi had sent him out. I think he wanted to be there when you woke up." Hinata implied. "Naruto said that they had to go to Sunagakure to drop some things off to Ino-chan."

"Ah haha…" Sakura chuckled nervously. Oh Sasuke was going to be in a sour mood for sure. She knew for a fact that he hated sand, and the desert is full of it.

"Anyway they will probably be back the day after tomorrow." Hinata informed.

The reached the marketplace Sakura noticed, the familiar sound of the busy street comforting. It was really beautiful lit up at night. It wouldn't be much farther now until they reached her place.

"Sakura-chan… Sasuke-san was really worried about you." Hinata began.

"That's what I heard…" Sakura trailed off. "But I'm sure he was just feeling really guilty."

"I think you two should really talk when he gets home."

"I want to… but I'm kind of scared to." Sakura confessed. "I put him through something that I never should have."

"It's not like it was your fault Sakura-chan. No one was prepared for what happened. Both Naruto-kun and Sasuke-san went after you, and brought you home. That's all that matters. I think Sasuke-san was really scared to lose you. I'd never seen him lose his composure like that before."

It was a little weird hearing that from Naruto's wife, but at the same time, it made her heart beat erratically. Even with the cold and distant treatment that he had been giving her, the fact that he cared seemed to be obvious to everyone else.

Sakura's apartment came into view. Hinata gave her friend another hug and wished her a good night, telling her call if she needed anything. She had promised to have dinner with her father and younger sister since Naruto was out of town, and they insisted.

"I promise, I will call if I need something. But really, I'm okay. I just need a good shower and some more sleep!" It was a little ironic to Sakura to think that she needed more sleep, considering that she had been out cold asleep for a week, but she partially just wanted to get through the next couple days until Sasuke got home. She needed to talk to him. She wanted to see him.

"Okay Sakura-chan. Take care of yourself." Hinata wished, as she waved her friend goodbye and turned to head off in the direction of the Hyuuga compound. Sakura closed her door softly, sighing, leaning against the door, and setting her bag down. She slid her shoes off before stepping into her slippers and entering her apartment. It was clean, a little unfamiliar as she was used to coming home to a chaotic home, but she had cleaned it since Sasuke had become a visitor. She walked into the kitchen, yawning, flipping on the lightswitch. There was a little note on the counter, clearly in Hinata's writing letting her now that she had left her a meal in the fridge. Hinata had always been so thoughtful and sweet.

Sakura was rather famished, so she was eager to eat whatever it was that Hinata had made for her. She opened to fridge to find a covered plate of food that had dango and anmitsu on it, and a covered bowl of rice beside it. Her friends knew her way too well.

She heated up her food, eating it a little too quickly and rather messily, placing the empty plate and bowl in her sink before heading off towards her bathroom to get cleaned up.

The hot water against her skin was soothing and refreshing. Her thoughts drifted to Sasuke again. She wondered how he and Naruto were doing. Were they getting along? Knowing Naruto, she was sure that he went with Sasuke to make sure that Sasuke would be okay, especially if he had seemed so distraught.

This was just so frustrating though. Thinking about him was frustrating. Their relationship was just confusing. Her heart was giddy that he would rush off to save her, but so would Naruto. Did he do that out of obligation? Of course he did. He always had when they were teammates. But then again, he had waited and watched over her. Something that was not characteristically him.

It didn't matter though. There was one thing that Sakura was determined to do, and it was to reiterate her feelings. They hadn't talked much about that particular topic since he had returned to the village, and Sakura had told herself that she wouldn't confess to him again. Her feelings were clear. But maybe it's what they needed. No one was willing to say the words that need to be heard, whether it was a confession, or if it would end up being unrequited love on her part. But at least maybe if they confronted this, and the words were just out there in finality, she might be able to consider moving on, just maybe.

Even while always being aware of her feelings, it's not like Sasuke had ever denied them openly. He had always questioned it, calling her annoying, and telling her thank you for caring about him. Never a clear answer, and she needed one.

Her body shivered with anticipation though, and thoughts of doubt began to surface in her mind. What if he really did deny her feelings for real this time though? She was sure that her heart would probably break into a million pieces for real. Was she not good enough for him?

* * *

Sasuke was a little too inwardly overjoyed as he and Naruto finally excited the gates of Sunagakure. Ino had been loud and a little moody to which Naruto explained his theory that she was probably pissed about not seeing Sai for a week. Sasuke had no idea that those two were even a thing, and was rather surprised. Everyone really had seemed to pair off, leaving him and Sakura, making their 'will they wont they' circumstance seem even more ridiculous.

Naruto had chatted way too much with the Kazekage Gaara, but it was obvious that they were good friends, and had a lot of mutual understandings. Naruto definitely had that effect on people though. That's just who he was. Sasuke had chosen to keep to himself for the most part, but he listened keenly when the two of them talked about Sakura and the amazing results that Suna has had with the mental rehabilitation, and the overall happiness of everyone that resided there. Gaara seemed more fond of Sakura than Sasuke liked, sparking a little bit of jealousy in him.

They spent the night, which had left Sasuke rather sleepless as his mind had kept him awake all night thinking about the conversation he had Naruto had on the way there, and how he could approach Sakura. So when morning came and they finally left, he was tired, grumpy, and eager to get home and out of the sand.

Naruto griped about how quickly they were heading home, and wondered what Sasuke was in such a rush about, even though Naruto probably already knew exactly the reason why. At this rate they would be able to make it home late at night, but Sasuke didn't care. He just wanted to get home.

 _He wanted to come home to her._

Sasuke was so glad when they reached the edge of the desert, and the terrain became a forest. They stopped at a stream briefly, enjoying the change in climate and a quick drink before taking off towards Konohagakure again. The sun was beginning it's descent into the sky, ready to give way to the moon to take over.

It was definitely nightfall by the time they reach the gates. Sasuke was brief about checking in at the gate before taking off. He heard Naruto yell a 'hey' at him as he took off towards his apartment to shower. He would deal with Naruto and the report to the Rokudaime later. He was the reason in the first place that he had been away from Sakura anyway.

He didn't care what time it was, and truthfully didn't even bother checking to find out. After he was cleaned up and felt that he had finally gotten rid of all that godforsaken sand out of his hair, Sasuke locked his apartment, dressed in simple black clothes and his black cloak and headed towards Sakura's place. He had to keep himself from impatiently sprinting there and he tried to coherently collect all of his thoughts. He had determinedly thought that he was just going to show up and spill out everything he had to say, but he was verbally constipated. He never was good at speaking details of the thoughts that came into his mind. His heart began to beat furiously in his chest, betraying his seemingly calm exterior. Sasuke began to feel like he had cold feet. Every step he took towards her home sending his anxiety soaring. How would she react to him just showing up? Would she be asleep? Would she even answer the door at this hour? Would he give into his selfish desires, or would he run? Either way, it was time to face the status of their relationship.

Sakura's apartment came into view, and Sasuke found it hard to swallow. He trembled as he walked up the short flight of steps, tentatively reaching up right hand up to knock on her door. Finally taking that gulp, he gave three hard raps against her door.

For a moment, he didn't hear anything, and the voice inside his head began to scream that he was being stupid and to run, but he was frozen to his spot when he began to hear footsteps slowly and cautiously making their way towards the door, and the porch light turn on.

As if time had slowed down, Sasuke watched as the door was cracked open and a viridan orb peeked out to see who had come to her door at this hour. _God, they were more beautiful than he remembered._ He watched as her eyes opened in utter surprise at seeing him at her door as she stiffened up, opening the door up all the way to reveal her in a light pink lace trimmed nightgown that skimmed her upper thighs that Sasuke deemed was far too indecent for her to be opening the door in. It made his cheeks redden immediately, and him painfully aware that he was a man.

"S-sasuke-kun?" She asked, her voice a clear indicator of the surprise she felt in seeing him.

"Can I come in? We need to talk." Sasuke demanded, averting his gaze in an attempt to distract himself from Sakura, though he cursed as his mind could clearly still picture exactly what she looked like. It was futile to even try, because she probably wouldn't go change into something else anyway.

"Um, yeah. Sorry. I wasn't expecting anyone." She apologized. Sakura must have noticed how uncomfortable her choice of clothes were making him as she offered him some explanation to her attire. She backed up, slipping on some slippers, turning on her living room light as he entered her apartment, shutting the door behind him. He was busy taking off his cloak and and sandals off when she brought him a pair of his own slippers to use, in which he quietly thanked her for.

"Do you want some tea?" Sakura offered, as she headed into the kitchen, still wearing that nightgown that Sasuke was hoping she would change out of because it was distracting the hell out of him. When she reached up high to grab tea bags, he was staring all to obviously at the way the blasted thing pulled up and barely covered her round toned backside.

"Yeah, sure." Sasuke replied, trying to keep his voice calm.

"I um… I was meaning to come talk to you as soon as you got home. You got home earlier than I thought." Sakura confessed, making small talk.

"Yeah, things went smoothly and we made good time." Sasuke agreed.

"Did Naruto give you much trouble?" She asked.

"Not really. He was just Naruto. Annoying as always." Sasuke replied.

An awkward silence fell between the two of them as Sasuke decided on leaning against a wall facing the kitchen as he watched Sakura work on the tea.

What should he say? How should he say it? He cursed himself for not coming up with some sort of a plan, but he knew that if he had sat and thought of it, would have just made excuses to not come and see her. His mind was screaming at him to be logical and do what was reasonably the best thing for the both of them, but his heart was betraying him. It was begging him to give in to the beautiful woman in front of him.

While he was lost in his thoughts as he watched her make some tea though, he didn't notice the deep shaky breath that sakura took, probably as she mustered up the courage to say what came out of her mouth next.

"Sasuke-kun, I want you to know… it's okay." She began, "And what happened is not your fault, but also…" She trailed off, Sasuke's attention now on her. She was trembling. "I don't want to burden you anymore." Sasuke was confused at what she meant.

"What do you mean?" He asked calmly, a gut wrenching feeling fell upon him.

"My feelings. I decided that I won't burden you with them anymore." She almost whispered, refusing to meet his intense gaze. Sasuke's breath hitched in his throat, an unbearable painful feeling in his chest hitting him mercilessly. He wanted to say something in return, but at this moment, he was speechless. Was she the one rejecting him?

"You don't want this?" Sasuke surmised. His response seemed to frustrate the pinkette.

"This? What is _this,_ Sasuke-kun?" Sakura scoffed, though Sasuke could see right through her response, but he let her continue anyway. "There isn't anything to begin with!"

"Is that really how you feel?" Sasuke's calm exterior only seemed to further irritate Sakura, though Sasuke was a jumbled mess inside.

"How I feel? Do you even know I feel, Sasuke-kun?! Do you have any idea what it's like to want something that you probably will never have? To have it dangled and teased in front of you?" Sakura spat. Her eyes were beginning to gloss over as she irritatingly put the teapot on the stove, not bothering to start the stove to heat the water as her attention fully turned to Sasuke.

"You're asking me, of all people that question?" Sasuke ridiculed, his voice lowering. His composure was beginning to break. Sakura was stubborn to a fault however, hot tempered as she marched right over to him, ready to give him a piece of her mind, her expression a scowl, and her viridian eyes glowing with an intensity that Sasuke found to be alluring. Those green eyes that sent deep longing into his being for her.

"Sasuke, you have no idea how much I can't stand the way I feel about you! I thought that I could be okay with the way things are but I can't! I can't pretend to just be your friend and be okay with that!" Sakura confessed. The fierceness hadn't left her eyes or her tone. Sasuke could tell that tears were threatening to spill from them, but she was willing them not to. "It's not fair! I can't take you playing with feelings anymore!"

"You think I'm playing around with your feelings?!" Sasuke growled, his composure completely gone as he grabbed her wrists, pushing her into the wall and caging her in with his body. He towered over her small frame in comparison. Sakura's face was red, probably from both her anger and the way he had her trapped under him. The left strap of her nightgown and slipped as she pushed with both her hands against his chest, as if threatening to push him off, though she made no notion to do so as her eyes stared defiantly into his, silently challenging him in a way that he loved. She held her ground. His aggression would send most anyone running, but not her. She had a temper to match.

"Sakura, I can't offer that fairytale romance you want!" Sasuke snarled. "I can't offer anyone that!" He clenched his fist as his eyes furrowed in frustration. She frowned back, but her gaze never left his.

"I don't want a fairytale romance! I didn't love you because I thought you could give me one!" Sakura finally reprimanded, her words catching Sasuke off guard.

"I won't ever be the typical boyfriend or husband." He argued, though the sincerity of her words worked to temper his anger. He noticed that when he had mentioned 'husband' that her expression changed slightly.

"I don't care! I've always known that Sasuke-kun! But I've loved you anyway, and… and I can't stop loving you! And it scares me, but I want to be with you anyway!" Sakura professed quietly.

This woman had caused Sasuke to lose all of his carefully placed control as his heart and body finally gave in with her soft reassuring words, surrendering as his lips came crashing down onto hers. He was positive that he was going to drown in this woman. He could feel the way her hands softly slid up his chest where they once were planted to keep some distance as she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening their kiss and pressing herself to him. Her fingers entwined themselves into his hair. Their lips moved together, kissing roughly as if releasing a little bit of both of their pent up frustrations. Sasuke's hands slid down, Sakura's nightgown annoyingly preventing him from touching her soft skin. He responded by pressing himself against her, pushing them both up against the wall.

Finally when the two broke apart from their kiss, they were both panting, resting their foreheads against each other.

"Sakura." Sasuke said huskily. The way their lips touched sent his whole body ablaze, and he was craving more.

"Please Sasuke-kun. I will do my best to make you happy! Please let me." Sakura murmured quietly.

"I don't deserve you." He was begging her to save him from himself, a weak attempt at appealing to the logical side of him that said this was a bad idea.

"I don't care." Sakura softly reached her right hand to rest on the left side of Sasuke's face, caressing it gently. "I love you." Her expression was gentle, putting Sasuke at ease, but his heart was still beating erratically. How could this be reality? In what should be wrong, he couldn't help but feel like everything was right. Sakura was perfect. She had turned into everything that he had ever wanted.

He leaned down to kiss her again, this time much more softly than their first frustrated kiss. It was tender, and her response was driving him crazy. It was going to take all the self control that he had to keep him from losing himself in her, and taking her with him. He needed her.

* * *

I'm sorry for the shorter chapter but it just felt like this was the best place to end it! Mwahahahaha! Now prepare for what's to come as they begin to explore their relationship after decided that they wanted to go down that path. I'm going to be so excited to write possessive Sasuke.

Anyway, please review if you can! I always appreciate your thoughts!

And thanks for reading! Happy New Year guys!


	7. Definition

I hope that everyone enjoyed the last chapter. I tried my best to write it in good detail, but as always, I know that my creative writing could use some more work. Thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate your input, and it helps me have the motivation to keep going to know that people actually enjoy the stories that I create.

I have to wonder, what are your personal head cannons on SasuSaku during the blank periods?

I also have to get something off my chest that bugs me and seems like a major plot hole in the entire gaiden arc by the way. So, I'm going to bring it up. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it in the reviews. In gaiden I thought that it was interesting that Naruto was surprised in finding out that Sasuke was a 'scumbag' after the umbilical cord test that Suigetsu does with Sarada that leads us to believe that Karin in the mother (It wasn't known that it was Sakura's cord) and it led Naruto to question it as well, leading to the hilarity of him telling a confused ass Sasuke that they were going to have a stern talk later. You guys know what part I'm talking about right? So anyway, I just want to know how Naruto didn't know 100% that Sarada was the daughter of Sasuke and Sakura. If they spent time in the village raising her, it seems odd that he wouldn't know. Can someone fill me in on this info, or did I just misunderstand it? It just seemed odd. I know this isn't the only plot hole to make it over to the Boruto series, but it's one of the ones that bothers me (I also found it odd that in the movie when Sasuke returns, he didn't know that Boruto was Naruto's son at first… If he and Sarada are the same age and he spent time in the village during the first few years of her life, wouldn't he know?) I don't want to get burned here, but it seems to suggest that Sasuke didn't spend any time in the village at all after Sarada was born. Someone please explain this to me!

Anyway, onto the next chapter! As always, I do not own Naruto and official works related.

* * *

 **Chapter VII:** Definition

* * *

Feeling the warmth of the sun on her face, Sakura's eyes fluttered open, struggling to adjust to the bright rays that invaded her room. Her eyes still felt heavy with sleep. What time was it? She was oddly warm even though she wasn't underneath any bed covers. A protective arm was draped over her waist casually as she remembered that the man she had fallen in love with was curled up against her back, clearly asleep still judging by the even breathing she could hear.

So it wasn't a dream. What happened the night before really did occur. Sakura twisted as quietly and slowly as she could so as to not wake up the slumbering Uchiha so that she could face him. His features were soft when he slept, she noted. She could help but bring her left hand up to tuck a few loose strands of his longer spiky bangs back, causing the man to stir a little. She thought she was safe and hadn't woken him up, but she was mistaken upon hearing him say her name softly.

"Sakura." He mumbled, his eyes still not open. "What time is it?"

"I don't know. I just woke up a little bit ago." She replied softly. This caused Sasuke to open just his right eye, keeping his rinnegan shut as he peeked at her. He drew in a deep breath before letting it out in a sigh.

"You fell asleep." Sakura teased. "In my bed of all places." The two of them had ended up talking all night, well, more like Sakura did most of the talking and he listened. They shared a few more kisses as well; some so intense Sakura might as well have melted from the heat that pooled to her face and her belly, but ultimately it seemed that Sasuke was tentative to test out anything further. The thoughts that came to Sakura's mind were anything but chaste when he kissed her like that.

"You don't seem to be complaining." Sasuke grumbled in response, causing the pinkette to blush. Sakura cupped his cheek in her soft hands causing Sasuke to reluctantly open both eyes, staring into her viridian ones.

"You're really warm when you sleep." Sakura remarked, chuckling. His mismatched eyes never seemed to dull in mesmerizing her. "And I didn't realize you were such a snuggler."

"Hn." Was all the response the Uchiha gave before removing his arm from a disappointed pink haired ninja. She had probably teased him a little to much.

"So, um… I would ask if I could cook you something, but I'm kind of out of food." Sakura began, as Sasuke sat up, swinging his legs effortlessly over the edge of her bed, yawning.

"Then we can get something to eat." He replied nonchalantly. The fact that he said 'we' made Sakura's heart skip a beat. All of a sudden it felt like that word had a little bit of a different meaning.

"O-okay!" Sakura almost squeaked, a little surprised by his reply. She stared at him as he rose from her bed, giving him back a quick stretch before disappearing into her bathroom. Sakura decided to walk over to her dresser and pick out something to wear for the day. It was strange to think that she would be in civilian clothes for at least the next week still.

Sasuke wasn't in the bathroom long, leaving it to Sakura.

"Get ready. I'll be back to get you." He stated matter-of-factly before giving her a soft look, his mouth turned into a small smirk. Sakura knew that she was blushing, yet again. With that, he spun on his heel and made for the door. Sakura assumed that he was probably going home to get freshed up from sleeping. She heard him grab his things and quietly exit her apartment.

* * *

Her blasted nightgown had been positively _annoying_. Sasuke raked his fingers through his hair in slight annoyance of it all. If he wasn't already aware before, he was really aware now. Sakura made him painfully aware of himself in a way that hadn't mattered to him much before. If he had his way, he probably would have ripped that damn one piece off Sakura when they were kissing on her bed. She had no idea how just how much of an effect she had on him, and she had no idea just how much he wanted her. He needed to get out for a moment to reign himself in and for her to get into something else. The last thing that he ever wanted to do again was hurt her.

Sasuke couldn't deny however, that sleeping with Sakura curled up against him and his arm draped protectively over her had been the best sleep he had gotten since he can remember. She calmed his very being in an unexplainable way. He had always thought that Sakura would be so much better off without him, but he was a selfish man. He needed her, and the love and peace she brought him. He tried to keep her away, but she broke down his walls with her ungodly stubbornness and the love she freely offered him, as she always has.

He headed back towards his small apartment to change and freshen up a bit, hoping that by the time he was done doing so, he would be able to get his nerves to calm, and that Sakura would be dressed and ready to go.

Arriving at his apartment, he swiftly unlocked the door, entering the empty abode with a sigh. He had told Kakashi in the first place that he didn't really need such a place in the first place, but the old man was insistent. It was still much to fancy for his taste, but he figured he would leave it be. Even with the nicer furnishings, it still felt so empty, just as every other place he had lived felt. Sakura's apartment was warm and inviting in comparison to his, even though it was small and modest - not to mention, messy most of the time.

Heading towards his bedroom, he hadn't even bothered to unpack yet, as the entirely of his belongings fit into his pack that he had travelled in. Maybe he should go shopping for more clothes, but he couldn't just bring himself to do so after living the way he had been the past couple years.

His bed was still neatly made, untouched since he set foot into the apartment. Sasuke bent down to rummage through his pack that had been left neatly in the corner next to his bed to find a clean shirt and pair of pants. He pulled them out, setting them aside on the bed while he undressed himself. He had grown so accustomed, and proficient at doing things with one arm now, it was weird to think that he had two to begin with.

He swiftly put his clean clothes on, heading back towards the entrance of his apartment where he had leaned Kusanagi against the wall, giving it one look before deciding that though he usually never left without it, maybe he should leave it at home this once.

Exciting his apartment, he headed back towards Sakura's. It was kind of nice that hers wasn't too far away from him, not that distance would have mattered in the first place. As a ninja you could get anywhere quickly.

He was surprised to see that Sakura was already dressed and waiting for him when he approached her place. She had decided to wear a pretty white long sleeve dress with a green cardigan and her red block heeled ninja heels. She still wore a red headband, and he noted that she had brushed out her hair and smelled sweeter than usual, though it was not unfamiliar.

"Took you long enough." She teased, smiling at him.

"Hn."

Sasuke saw that Sakura opened her mouth to say something in reply when suddenly another voice ringed through his years.

"Sasuke!" The voice belonged to none other than Naruto himself. _He has uncanny timing_ , Sasuke inwardly groaned.

"Naruto! What are you doing here?" Sakura demanded, the irritation fairly evident in her tone of voice as she stared right past Sasuke at the yellow haired ninja coming up behind him.

"Well, I was coming over to ask if you had seen this bastard here." Naruto nonchalantly pointed, his aim at Sasuke. "But that's obviously a mute point."

"What do you want, Naruto?" Sasuke deadpanned. He turned his body to the side to partially face Naruto, shooting him one of his famous irritated scowls.

"You disappeared as soon as we got to the gates and left me to report the Kakashi all on my own!" Naruto accused, seemingly oblivious to both Sakura and Sasuke's irritation.

"Did you need me there for a simple report like that?" Sasuke asked, his tone mocking.

"Well…" Naruto took a minute to look at both Sasuke and Sakura as if he was all of a sudden trying to assess a situation and put two and two together. "I was wondering what you rushed off for -" he stopped. Clearly the gears in his head had finished turning.

"Wait wait wait! Sasuke did you seriously-"

Both Sakura and Sasuke's face flushed immediately at the insinuation.

"No you idiot!" Sakura denied, her right hand curling into a threatening fist, causing Naruto to look like he might want to fret for his life. He began to put his hands up in an attempt to calm the situation. "Besides what Sasuke and I do is NONE of your business." she added.

"W-wait, so does that mean…" Naruto trailed. Oh boy. "Sasuke did you - are you and Sakura- chan -"

"As Sakura said, it's none of your business, _idiot_." Sasuke quipped, though he knew that Naruto knew exactly what that meant anyway.

"Okay, okay, Sakura, please don't kill me! I won't tell anyone I swear!" Naruto begged, fully aware that the pinkette was ready to punch him as she often did if he seriously teased her. Her inhuman strength really was a frightening thing to trifle with. He turned to Sasuke, his manner more serious. "Anyway, Kakashi figured you had just wanted me to give the report and didn't pry so…."

An awkward silence fell between the three of them.

"Uh… well I'm going to go find Hinata. See you guys later." Naruto said, breaking the silence and rubbing the back of his head which both Sasuke and Sakura knew was a habit when he felt uncomfortable in a situation. However, they both could tell that Narutp was sincere in giving them their privacy, something that he had very much learned when interacting with people as he got older. When they were all younger, Naruto had never been one to get the concept, and interrupted anyone as he saw fit.

Naruto quickly jumped away, running off and was out of sight before either of them knew it.

"Maybe we were a little too hard on him." Sakura sighed, though Sasuke didn't think so, and didn't want to say anything more about it. Sakura was unaware of the guy talk that they already had, and it was fine if she didn't ever know. He couldn't help but respect his friend in his own way.

"Let's go, hangry." Sasuke said, reaching his hand out as an offering to help Sakura stand up with a small smirk.

"Hangry?" She asked, almost puzzled as she took his hand to pull herself up from the step she was sitting on.

* * *

Sakura walked in comfortable silence next to Sasuke. He had let her hand go once she had been pulled up to her feet, much to her disappointment, but she knew that Sasuke was not a man who displayed his affections openly in public. He did however stay in closer proximity to her than any previous time that they had been out together, and she found herself enjoying it and blushing whenever she would steal a quick glance at him while he was observing their surroundings. He had always been this way.

The market streets of Konoha were busy as always, and considering that it was now the lunch rush, it was busier than normal. While Sakura generally didn't mind the mass of people, she knew that Sasuke wasn't much of a fan, and if he was bothered by it, he was concealing it rather well.

"Where do you want to stop, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, grabbing the attention of the Uchiha.

"Wherever is fine." He replied.

There was always so many options to choose from, but Sasuke knew Sakura, and wasn't surprised when she headed straight for her favorite dango shop. He wasn't much into sweets like she was, but he would find something suitable to eat.

Breakfast went smoothly, as the two of them went into Sakura's favorite shop, ordered their food in which Sasuke paid for without a word, and they ate in peace. Mostly, it was just a little awkward, Sakura thought. Before she would have talked away, most likely to Sasuke's annoyance, but now that their relationship was changing, she began to be a little more self conscious.

"You were quiet at breakfast." Sasuke commented, as the two of them headed back towards Sakura's apartment. She had no idea what they would do next, but going to either of their place was a start, she supposed. She was a little surprised at Sasuke's comment, though she knew that he was probably wondering why.

"Sorry. I just didn't have much to say." Sakura replied, half lying. She wasn't going to admit that she was all of a sudden a little self conscious now. She thought that Sasuke frowned for just a moment at her reply, and almost seemed as if he was going to say something in return, before his ever controlled facial expression was put back into place. Sakura wondered if he was knew that something was bothering her.

As they were getting closer to Sakura's apartment however, a few little kids who were playing with a ball in the street recognized Sakura.

"Sakura-san!" They called in excitement. Both Sakura and Sasuke stopped in their tracks at the sound of her name. Three little kids, two boys and a girl came running up to them. One of the little boys held onto the ball that they were playing with. They all had dark brown hair and green eyes and were dressed modestly in plain clothes. They were dirty from playing in the dirt. Zuta and Kita were talkative kids, but Shota was rather shy and didn't talk much. Sakura had been working especially hard with him to get him to open up.

"Oh, hello Shota-kun, Zuta-kun, and Kita-chan!" Sakura replied gleefully. The three were siblings, orphaned from the war and saw her often at the clinic.

"We heard you got really sick!" Kita-chan said.

"I did, but I'm doing better!" Sakura replied, playing along. It was best that they didn't know the truth of why she had been absent. Kita ran in for a hug which Sakura bent down to give.

"Ino-san has been seeing us but she's not as nice as you! And now we have some other lady because Ino-san is gone!" Zuta added. Sakura gave a half smile and awkward chuckle.

"Uh well, I'm sure that she is still really nice!" Sakura replied, embarrassed.

"Who is this guy?" Kita-chan asked, pointing at Sasuke. Sakura had almost forgotten that he was standing right behind her, and blushed.

"Kita-chan! It's rude to point!" Sakura softly scolded, her face all red.

"Your face is red!" Kita teased. "Who is he? I've never seen you with him before! He's super cool!"

"Um…" Sakura paused for a quick second, caught off guard. Should she tell him that he was just her friend? Well that wouldn't be lying… or should she say he was her boyfriend? Would Sasuke want her to tell them that? "This is Sasuke Uchiha. He's my…"

"Boyfriend."

All four of them looked up at Sasuke. Sakura's eyes widened a little at the surprise of hearing him say it himself, her face turning even more red.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend!" Both Kita and Zuta said, genuinely surprised. "Usually we see you alone!"

This caused Sakura to try and not give a little scowl at her embarrassment of them announcing that she was a loner.

"How long have you guys been together? Sakura-san is really pretty so I'm not surprised that her boyfriend is so cool!" Kita said admiringly.

"Okay I think that's enough questions." Sakura said, not wanting to give details of her private life out yet. The three kids frowned, and Kita huffed and pouted.

"I'll be back at the clinic in about a week. Can you guys hold out until then? Ino-san should be back in a couple days too. I'm sorry." Sakura offered. The three of them seemed satisfied enough with the answer.

"Okay then! Bye Sakura-san! Bye Sakura's boyfriend!" The three of them waved goodbye before running off, probably to play with their ball again.

"Sorry about that. I get stopped every time one of our kids from the clinic sees me." Sakura said, brushing herself off as she stood up. She had been kneeling to talk to those kids.

"They like you." Sasuke replied, waiting for her before they continued towards Sakura's apartment.

"I guess so." Sakura chuckled. "I was surprised," she added. "That you told them that you were my boyfriend."

"Hn."

"I wasn't sure if you wanted people to know." Sakura almost whispered.

Sasuke stopped which made Sakura stop and meet his gaze. His gaze was intense, but soft.

"Do you?" He asked inquisitively, almost as if he was offended by her hesitance. Sakura could feel her heart starting to pound in her chest.

"Yes." She replied quietly, almost as if she was afraid for him to hear her answer.

"Then I don't see the problem." Sasuke answered, his footsteps resuming as he continued to head towards Sakura's apartment. Sakura followed.

As soon as they turned the corner, they would be at her home and the rest of the walk was silent between the two of them as they reached her door.

"Tea?" Sakura asked, as she moved to unlock her door and enter her apartment.

"Yeah, sure." Sasuke replied, as he followed.

"I was surprised that you didn't have Kusanagi on you." Sakura commented as Sasuke didn't lay down his sword like he had all the times before.

"I didn't need it today." He replied as he took his shoes off at once again put on the slippers that Sakura seemed to just leave out for him now.

Sakura headed into the kitchen to make tea as Sasuke once again settled onto her couch. She set her water kettle on the stove to heat and pulled out the tea kettle and two tea cups and set them on the counter before she decided she would join Sasuke on the couch.

"Sakura." Sasuke said, as she sat beside him.

"Hmmm?" She replied, looking at him. Without another word, Sasuke leaned down, planting a soft kiss on her lips catching her off guard. Sakura immediately felt the heat rise to her cheeks, flushing her face and her heartbeat began to beat loudly in her chest. The way Sasuke interacted with her in public in comparison to when they were in privacy were completely different. Sakura closed her eyes and kissed him back, beginning to lean into him.

They broke apart for a moment of air.

"What was that for?" Sakura asked as she tried to slow her heart rate and breathe. Sasuke smirked.

"Why were you so quiet today?" He asked calmly, bringing up the subject again. It was obvious that Sasuke noticed her change in behavior.

"I um… well I usually talk a lot…" Sakura trailed off, too shy to meet his gaze.

"Sakura." Sasuke said, his voice deeper. "Don't change." He didn't need to give her a whole spiel for her to know exactly what he meant.

"Sorry." Sakura mumbled, sighing. "I'm just still trying to catch up with everything." She slowly turned to meet his gaze again. He had that same look he did earlier. His eyes were intense, but held a softer expression. Sakura would be lying if she tried to claim that look didn't send her melting and a burning heat begin to pool in the heat of her stomach in a foreign way.

Slowly, she reached out to Sasuke's cheek, her fingertips touching the left side of his face tentatively. He closed his eyes for a moment at her touch, but opened them again, that same intense look still there.

"Kiss me." Sakura said quietly, shy at the suddenness of her demand as she realized that she had said that aloud and not in her head. Sasuke's eyes widened momentarily, time seemed to freeze for just a moment as they were still, when suddenly he crashed his lips onto hers. It was not the same as the kiss they had just shared, or even the ones they had shared after their fight the night before. This kiss was more similar to the first time he kissed her, Sakura thought. Aggressive and demanding. A side of Sasuke that she wasn't familiar with. Sakura couldn't help but to respond to the kiss, surprised when Sasuke nipped at her bottom lip causing her to gasp as he plunged his tongue into her mouth to meet hers for the first time. It wasn't long before Sakura found herself flat on her back on the couch and Sasuke on top of her as they kissed, leaning on his right arm as their tongues battled for dominance, while Sakura's hands were firmly on his chest. She was just about to slide her arms up into Sasuke's hair without even thinking when suddenly the whistle of boiling water began to ring in their ears, causing them both to abruptly stop, both of them breathing a little heavier. Sakura could see that Sasuke's face was flushed, though he replaced his facial expression with is usual stoic facade as he pushed himself up off of her and pulled her up with him.

Sakura quickly ran into the kitchen to turn the whistling off, almost half irritated that she had even started the tea in the first place. There was silence between the two as she worked to fill the teapot with the hot water and put everything on a tray that she could take into the living room. What had she been thinking asking for something like that out of the blue? The fact that Sasuke had replied to her demand so eagerly only made her blush more furiously. She was pretty sure that her face was going to be permanently red.

She carried the tray to the living room, Sasuke leaning into the couch comfortably as he quietly watched her, almost as if he was finding her reaction to what had just transpired amusing.

"Tea's ready." Sakura announced to break the silence, as she softly set the tray down and settled on the couch beside Sasuke, this time not quite as close as she leaned over to pour the liquid into the two cups. After, she handed one to Sasuke who took it gratefully. She brought her own cup to her lips to take a small sip. It was really hot, but Sakura didn't care.

"How long before you have to return to work?" Sasuke inquired, breaking the silence once again.

"About a week. I can't ask Tsunade to work for me longer than that." Sakura replied, taking another sip of her tea.

"You need to take it easy." Sasuke replied.

"I'm okay. I promise." Sakura objected. "Besides, I'll be feeling even better in a week. And I already had some planned time off for the cherry blossom festival."

"That's in a couple of weeks isn't it?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah. Though I haven't gone the past couple of years." Sakura trailed off.

"I'll go with you." Sasuke offered, causing the pinkette to set down her teacup. "Since you don't work." he added. Sakura smiled, her face brightening with excitement. She leaned in to give Sasuke a quick peck on the cheek. In response, Sasuke set his own teacup on the coffee table, intending to capture Sakura's lips again.

* * *

Okay, so this is a short chapter because there just wasn't a whole lot of sustenance to keep the chapter going, please don't hate me! There's going to be a small timeskip towards the cherry blossom festival and some recaps of what happened during the timeskip in the next chapter, and a big relationship development for Sakura and Sasuke in the next chapter as well… there's a reason this is rated M.

So, as always, reviews are appreciated. It lets me know that you guys are enjoying the story. Over all, the endgame of this fanfiction is going to be Sasuke and Sakura leaving Konoha together to travel again, so we are getting closer to the end. Please don't leave me hanging on your thoughts! They help me finish writing a complete story!


	8. Consume

I'm still really sorry about the shortness of the last chapter guys! But expect this one to be a full one with some content I'm sure you might have been waiting for *hint hint*.

I really appreciate all of the follows, favorites and reviews that I have received with this story, so thank you! I hope that I can keep writing stories that you guys want to read and that my writing will keep getting better and better.

Also, I just wanted to let you guys know that I started a drabble and one shot serious called Transcendence. Every chapter I add will be a one shot that is SasuSaku centric. If you guys have any prompts that you would like to see turned into a one shot, please feel free to send me a PM! I will give you credit for your prompt ideas! It can range from K to M, and I will write then in either AU or Canon verse.

And, last of all, I want to thank everyone who left their answers and ideas to the question I posted in the last chapter. Some of you guys brought up really good points and theories! Unfortunately, I don't think we will really ever know what happened unless Kishi comes out and says it, lol. I wish we would get more SasuSaku backstory!

As always, I do not own Naruto or anything related.

* * *

Chapter VIII: Consume

* * *

The last couple of weeks had gone by fast and slow at the same time. The cherry blossom festival was tomorrow, and Sasuke was still trying to sort things out from what had transpired in the last couple of weeks.

It seemed that Naruto really had kept his word when he said that he wouldn't just go telling everyone about Sasuke's new relationship with Sakura, with the exception of his wife as Sasuke expected. A few days after he had found out, Naruto insisted that they go on a double date, justifying that no one would suspect anything out of the ordinary since they were team seven reunited after all. For the most part, people didn't seem to prying, but it didn't stop a few curious whispers, not that Sasuke cared. If someone were to ask him or Sakura about their relationship, it wasn't like they would try to hide it.

The week that Sakura had still been at home recovering, they had spent together for the most part in privacy. Sasuke returned to his home for the majority of nights, but there were a few nights he found himself waking up with Sakura curled up against him in her bed. They had kissed more times than Sasuke cared to count, even going as far as being half naked during an intense makeout and groping session. If he had his way, Sasuke would have already taken his and Sakura's relationship further, but he was letting her lead the way. For someone that had a stubborn and sometimes aggressive personality, she could also be rather shy.

When Sakura did return to work, Sasuke found himself with more time than he liked. He met her for lunch if he could, and walked her home after her shifts and sometimes before. The status of their relationship was beginning to become a curiosity to more and more people, but they did their best to just continue on and not pay too much attention to it.

However, the news about them certainly didn't miss the ears of their old teacher.

 _Sasuke entered the Hokage's office wondering what his former teacher wanted this time. Kakashi hadn't sent him out on another mission since he sent him out into that blasted desert with Naruto, and he was hoping it wasn't another ridiculous request like that again, even if it would help him find something to do with his time._

" _Sasuke." Kakashi started, looking up from his desk full of paperwork that never seemed to disappear. Luckily it was only the two of them._

" _What is it this time?" Sasuke asked, with a sigh._

" _Gee, don't look so irritated." Kakashi mocked._

" _So?" Sasuke frowned._

" _I wanted to talk to you about Sakura." Kakashi began. "And before you go saying it's not my place." he added, knowing his former student all too well. "I'm just a little curious."_

" _So you've heard." Sasuke inquired, taking somewhat of an interest in the conversation._

" _Well, not much escapes me these days, but mostly Naruto admitted to it." Kakashi informed._

" _That doesn't surprise me I guess." Sasuke replied. "It's not like we are trying to hide it."_

" _No, I didn't assume so. I just thought that maybe we should talk since you and I know that you plan on leaving again." Kakashi began. Sasuke knew that Kakashi assumed that he hadn't told Sakura yet._

" _That hasn't changed." Sasuke admitted._

" _I didn't think so. I'm happy that you and Sakura are together." Kakashi continued. "However, this is something that you have to be honest with her about. I don't think that she expects you to spend all your time here, but… maybe she was thinking you would be here longer than you probably plan to." Kakashi was always intuitive._

" _I don't plan to hide it." Sasuke rebuked._

" _How will you deal with it?" Kakashi asked, ignoring the obvious dislike that Sasuke has taken towards their conversation. While Kakashi had always been a sort of father figure to Sasuke, he still was never a fan of adults trying to invade his privacy._

" _It's really not your concern." Sasuke started. Kakashi looked as if he was going to scold Sasuke for his coldness, but Sasuke continued. "But, I don't intend to leave without having some type of permanent tie here." The room fell silent. Sasuke knew that Kakashi understood what he meant._

" _Why not take her with you?" Kakashi suggested, causing the Uchiha to be caught off guard._

" _With me?" Sasuke asked. "It's not the kind of life that I can ask Sakura to live. Besides, she belongs here. She's worked hard for everything that she has." He wasn't going to tell Kakashi that part of it was that he didn't want to ever feel any possible guilt over asking her to do such a thing for him, when she had already done so much. More than he deserved. She was still giving him more than he deserved._

" _She has worked hard… but I know Sakura. She will always work hard. We can't predict the future Sasuke. She needs to live a little too. She deserves that."_

" _I won't take her unless she wants to become my wife." Sasuke conceded. "And I can't rush her into that, if that's what she even wants." Kakashi had to stifle a small chuckle, eliciting a glare from the Uchiha._

" _Young love." He grumbled as he cleared his throat. "Anyway, why don't you consider getting her something? It is the cherry blossom festival after all."_

" _I already have." Sasuke shrugged. After all this time and their relationship actually being official, he felt that Sakura deserved some sort of reminder of his commitment to her._

" _Oh?" Kakashi asked, raising an inquisitive brow._

" _But, that really IS none of your business." Sasuke quipped._

" _Well, I won't press you there, Sasuke." Kakashi sighed._

It had been a rather annoying conversation to say the least, but Sasuke was serious about both things; he did indeed have a gift for Sakura that he intended to give her tomorrow, and he was serious about her becoming his wife, especially if she had any ideas of wanting to go with him when he leaves this time. If he was being honest with himself, part of him hoped that maybe it would happen. He wasn't sure how he was going be able to be away from her, even if he knew that what he was doing was important for the safety and future of others. He wasn't sure that he would find the same resolve to be able to leave her now that they were together.

Walking into the jewelry shop that he had been visiting for a while, he came to pick up the gift that he had planned to give Sakura. Something he was intending to be a promise for her. She deserved something more than pokes on the forehead and words that he will see her again, even if he knew that she was perfectly happy with just those.

"Ah, Uchiha-kun." An old man greeted as Sasuke stepped into the quaint little jewelry shop of his choice. It was simple, built in dark wood with big open windows and with glass counters that were decorated with many of his handmade pieces and craftsmanship. Apparently this was where Naruto had gotten his rings for Hinata, and he did not lie when he said that this man did good work.

"Sasuke is fine." Sasuke replied, giving the man a small, friendly smile.

"You are too kind." The old man chucked. "The necklace is done."

"Thank you, for doing it on short notice, Susumu-san." Sasuke replied, giving a small bow. It turned out that the old jeweler had met his parents long ago and was rather surprised that he was their son as he had never seen him before. He had known about the Uchiha massacre, and of Sasuke's past, yet never seemed to have judged him.

"Of course. I do hope that Sakura-chan will like it." he replied, as he began to head into the back of his shop. Sasuke watched as the man disappeared behind the open doorway. Susumu had known that the necklace was intended for Sakura as she had tended to his health many times and told him stories about a man she was in love with every time they met. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together.

It was only a few seconds it seemed before the man came back out with a rectangle box, bringing it to Sasuke and opening the lid to show its content. Sasuke's eyes widened.

Laying in the box on white fabric was a beautiful gold chain necklace with a small pendant of the Uchiwa fan. The red was crafted from ruby and the white was crafted from diamond. It was just as he had asked. Sakura wasn't one for super flashy things, Sasuke knew but this was a notion of his promise to her, no matter where their futures would lead. She was someone special to him.

"It's beautiful." Sasuke remarked. It honestly ended up being even more beautiful than he had envisioned in his mind. This old man truly was a master of his art.

"Well, it pales in comparison to the person it's intended for." Susumu modestly replied, replacing the lid on the jewelry box and handing it to Sasuke.

Though Sasuke had paid the price in full up front to the old man, he reached into his coat to give him a generous tip. He had intended to in the first place.

"Oh, I can't take that." Susumu refused, as Sasuke handed him a small pouch.

"Then think of it as a thank you gift." Sasuke replied. Truthfully, there was no price that could be put on the necklace.

With that, Sasuke bowed, bidding the old man goodbye and left the shop. There was only a few hours before Sakura would be off work, and he had to make sure that he got all of his errands done before then.

* * *

Sakura was really regretting volunteering to catch up on paperwork. She already was behind even though Tsunade had been here to take over her duties, as there was some things that had to be done specifically by her. She was however, looking forward to having the next few days off, even though she had been away from work for two weeks and barely back for one.

Sitting in her office, trying to concentrate on the paperwork in front of her, a knock came to her door.

"Come in." She said in response. She was surprised to find that it was Ino, and she looked rather pissy about something.

"Sakura! You better explain yourself right now!" She huffed. Sakura gave her a bewildered look.

"Okay, well hi to you too." She replied sarcastically, somewhat assuming what topic could be causing the blonde's current attitude. Even with an irritated Ino, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't minding the distraction.

"How long have you and Sasuke been together?!" Ino exclaimed. "I can't believe you would keep it a secret from your best friend!" She accused. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"We aren't trying to keep it a secret, Ino. We just aren't going around and announcing it to the world. It's not like I'm trying to deny it." Sakura reasoned.

"But still!" Ino whined. "I can't believe that I had to find out from Hinata! Seriously, how come she got to know first?" Sakura sighed.

"Because, Naruto found out thanks to his nosy habit of showing up whenever he feels like it, and he told Hinata. End of story."

"Okay, well fine, I get that, but you're so mean! I mean, I'm really happy for you!" Ino said, her mood calming. "Now we all can go on dates together! Anyway, I want details forehead, so spill them."

It had been a while since Ino had called her that childhood nickname.

"Well, he confessed. Really, that's all there is to it." Sakura lied. Eh, there was just some details that no one needed to know about them.

"Wait, so have you guys kissed? Is he good in bed or what?" Ino asked. Sakura's face immediately flushed a deep red. Ino had nerves of steel sometimes when it came to asking people private questions. Not that Sai was much better in that department either.

"No!" Sakura practically shrieked. "We haven't done that yet! What do you take me for? We've been together for like two weeks."

"Wow, your such a prude. You need to show Sasuke what he's been missing out on!" Ino exclaimed. Sakura was more than finished with this conversation. Her sex life paled in comparison to her female comrades, and she was well aware of it. Hoping Sasuke would return and keeping herself crazy busy as one of the most renowned medical nin the the known ninja world had effectively worked as a deterrent. And if she was being honest, it wasn't that she didn't want to, but like most every female she had her own insecurities and doubts, and she didn't want to rush Sasuke into anything.

"Okay, I think we are done with this conversation now." Sakura decided, getting up from her desk to push her friend out of her office. She made a mental note to find time to talk to Ino about it again, but just not right now.

"What! Sakura how can you avoid me that's not fair!" Ino protested as Sakura nudged her out the door.

"I promise I will talk to you about it later, okay?" Sakura offered in defeat. After all, Ino probably wouldn't leave her alone anyway until she got a satisfactory amount of juicy details on them.

"Fine, fine." Ino agreed with a sigh, before her demeanor lightened. "Well, we will see you later at the cherry blossom festival! You better look cute for Sasuke!" She added.

"You know me. I'm totally going to go all out." Sakura replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. While Sakura knew that she enjoyed a lot of her feminine habits, she was just not as obsessed with them as she had once been at a younger age. She had learned to appreciate her unique features and let them be. Besides, she was pretty sure Sasuke wasn't into that super girly stuff anyway.

Shutting the door after Ino's departure, Sakura trudged back to her desk. There was only a few hours before her shift would be over, and she was going to be more than happy to let the paperwork be until she returned in a few days. She would have to make sure to get all the important ones done though before she left.

She was left to her own thoughts as she began to try and get through her paperwork. Was it really that weird that they hadn't done _that_ yet? Sakura couldn't help but blush. Maybe she should try and find out if Sasuke wanted to take their relationship to that level. She wanted to.

* * *

If Sasuke was being honest with himself, he was feeling a little more nervous than usual, much to his irritation.

He tried to logically reason with his treacherous emotions, but it just wasn't working. No matter how much he told himself it was silly to get worked up over giving her his gift, his chest was just a tight knot. He couldn't help but worry if she would like it or not. The longer he waited, the worse it seemed to get.

Sasuke was dressed in all black, wearing a light material long sleeve shirt with his clan symbol displayed under the nape. He wore black pants that were loose fitted, and black ninja sandals that came up his shins. He just wasn't someone to be fancy, even if he was attending a festival.

Instead of walking Sakura home from her shift at the hospital today, they had agreed that he would just pick her up around four in the afternoon and head to the festival from there. Not that he would admit it, but he was eager to see her. Even though they had gone out in public together several times, and even double dated with Naruto and Hinata, this was really their first official date as a couple. They would be bound to run into probably everyone they knew.

Sakura's apartment door was in view now, and Sasuke found his feet in a little bit of a hurry to get there. He gave a few raps on her door.

It didn't take long before she opened it, revealing herself in a beautiful light blue yukata that had peach blossoms embroidered all over it. It was tied up with a red obi. She had pulled her pink hair back into a small bun that was held together by a red ornament, letting a few strands of hair fall to frame her face.

She looked absolutely exotic and beautiful, and it only served to remind him how much he didn't deserve her. A beautiful smile graced her face.

"Hey Sasuke-kun!" She beamed happily.

"Hey." Sasuke replied, giving her a small smile.

"Let me put my shoes on real quick and then we can go!" Sakura exclaimed, opening her door in invitation for Sasuke. He decided he would just wait at the door while she sat down to pull on some red low blocked heels.

After she did that, she stood up, brushed herself off, and moved to exit her apartment and lock the door. Sasuke waited.

"You look beautiful." Sasuke commented, noticing that it made the pinkette flush.

"Thank you." Sakura replied. Sasuke offered her his arm, amused as Sakura blinked in bewilderment for a moment before she link her arm with his. It's true that he wasn't a fan of being intimate in public, and she had known this without them having to discuss it, and she never once complained. But, today was a special day. The least he could do was act like a boyfriend.

They headed off towards the festival. The loud noises they could hear in the warm air gave Sasuke an idea as to just how busy it was probably going to be. He never was a fan of big crowds.

"What did you do today?" Sakura asked, making small talk as they walked.

"Not much. Just took care of some things." Sasuke replied. They were now getting into busier streets, and he couldn't help but observe various reactions from people who saw them. He found the lack of gawking from other men on Sakura amusing. She was his after all.

"I'm really glad that I get to have a few more days off with you." Sakura added. "And thank you, for coming with me."

"I asked you." Sasuke reminded, his stoic expression in place. Sakura knew that despite what public display he put on, those words were meant as a tease.

"I guess that's true." she giggled.

As Sasuke expected, the area that had been specifically designated for the cherry blossom festival was packed with people. He felt Sakura's grip tighten on his arm, and he wondered if she was nervous at all. It wasn't long however, before they were spotted by familiar faces.

"Yo!" Kiba called, with Shino and Rock Lee in tow. "What the? Is that you Sasuke? And Sakura! Wait, you guys came together? Where's Naruto and Hinata? When did Sasuke get back?" It seemed that Kiba was rambling one question after another, as if he was unsure of where to start. Sakura gave a nervous chuckle.

"Um… we came together! Sasuke came back a couple weeks ago." She replied, letting go of Sasuke's arm.

"As in together, together?" Rock Lee inquired, seemingly curious. Sakura nodded.

"Wow. Can't say I entirely expected this." Kiba commented, eliciting a glare from both Sakura and Sasuke. Sasuke wasn't much of a talker, but his expression acknowledged the three of them as Sakura excused them from the three men.

It wasn't long before they ran into Naruto, Hinata, Sai and Ino.

"You guys made it!" Naruto announced, his signature grin spread wide across his face. Naruto himself hadn't bothered to change into anything different as he was wearing his usual ninja outfit. Hinata on the other hand, was dressed in a beautiful Navy blue yukata that was decorated with white peach blossoms and a light lavender obi. Her long hair had been gracefully pulled up in a ponytail behind her.

"Sakura-chan, your yukata is so pretty!" Hinata complimented. Sakura smiled.

"Hey I'm here too you know." Ino grunted. "You really do clean up good though Sakura." She added. Ino was wearing a violet yukata with cherry blossoms embroidered on it. Her obi was light blue in color. She too had her hair pulled back into a long ponytail. While Sakura had taken a liking to keeping her hair short, Ino had grown hers out to a super long length.

"Sasuke I'm sure this is a real date for you so make sure you treat Sakura to anything she wants!" Naruto announced, teasing his friend, and making the pinkette blush.

"Hn." Naruto was an idiot sometimes. Of course he was going to treat Sakura to anything she wanted.

Well, Sai and I are going to see if we can find Shikamaru, Tenten, and Choji! You guys have fun! Be sure to use your feminine charms Sakura!" Ino teased as she began to hurry away with Sai in tow. Sasuke could tell that Sakura was embarrassed from the statement as she glared at Ino's retreating form.

"If you guys wanna do your own thing, you don't have to stay with us. We are probably too lovey dovey for you guys anyway!" Naruto announced, grabbing Hinata's hand. It was amusing to see the raven haired woman blush at the mention of them being lovey dovey.

"Ugh, that's probably true." Sakura agreed, sticking her tongue out playfully as if disgusted.

"Yeah, I think I'll pass on that show." Sasuke conceded. "Besides, it would be embarrassing to watch you fail miserably." he added, throwing shade at his friend. It was true that Naruto could be rather clueless when it came to that stuff. He was lucky that he had someone so patient like Hinata who often found his non experienced behavior funny.

"What was that? You want a challenge Uchiha?" Naruto shot back, playfully going along with the teasing. That was how their arguments usually started anyway.

"You heard me." Sasuke replied, smirking in amusement.

"Haha, okay I think we should go now Sasuke-kun." Sakura nervously giggled, as she grabbed onto his arm. Naruto huffed. Sakura gave them both a grin.

"We will see you later! Keep him in line Hinata! That dork needs someone to do it." Sakura teased as she pulled Sasuke away from them.

* * *

Sasuke let Sakura lead the way, happy to be alone with her again. They would probably get stopped some more by others that they knew, and he was fine if he had to deal with the pleasantries that came with it. He would do whatever he needed to make Sakura happy tonight.

One question brewed in the back of his mind however. What would be the best way to present Sakura with his gift? Should he do it in public? That really wasn't his style, even if he knew that Sakura would probably find such a thing super romantic under the cherry blossom trees. Should he force himself to do something he was really uncomfortable with though?

Ever since they had defined their relationship, she had been more than understanding about his social quirks. Sakura didn't change whether she was in public or private, and while Sasuke was indeed a private person, she seemed happy that he was more expressive with her when they were alone. It created a deeper kind of intimacy that was their own. Perhaps it would be best if he waited until later to give her his gift, and he definitely preferred that it be in privacy.

The evening seemed to have flown by in a moment, but Sakura couldn't deny that she felt like she was on cloud nine. Sasuke had treated her to everything that she had wanted all night, not giving a single word or indication of complaint.

There were so many games and food stalls that they tried out, and the guys from the original teams of their genin days all got together for drinks while the girls talked. Naruto had managed to get himself pretty inebriated on dares, leaving Hinata to help him home with Kiba and Shino. Sasuke had agreed to one drink to be socially polite, as he brushed off all the teasing he received at the newfound knowledge of his relationship with Sakura. Sakura could tell that he was a little irritated, but not in the same way he might have once been. He was just never one to take teasing well, but she was happy that he seemed somewhat at peace with the friendly company he received.

When night had fallen and the festivities began to die off, Sakura and Sasuke bid farewell to everyone as they began to make their way out of the festival area and towards home.

"I had fun today Sasuke-kun, thank you." She said happily as they neared her apartment. She had been clinging to his arm again, not that Sasuke minded.

"Good." he grunted in reply. He was glad that he had been successful in making her happy, but now he was contemplating on how exactly he would present her with his present. He had been holding on to it all night, and was glad that they had been kept busy so that he could give it to her in privacy. If they had been alone too much, he would have felt pressure to give it to her earlier.

They entered her apartment together, taking off their shoes off and setting their things aside. Sakura immediately went into the bedroom, shutting her door in which Sasuke assumed that she was changing out of her yukata and putting on something else a little more comfortable to wear. At this point it was a given that he was welcome in her apartment whenever he wanted to stay with her.

While waiting, he situated himself on the couch.

Sakura re emerged from the bedroom after a few minutes, as she joined Sasuke in the living room. She had pulled her hair out, letting her hair down as she usually wore it, and she had changed into a white nightshirt that was loose fitted and came down to her mid thigh. Sasuke was use to her wearing more skimpy things to sleep in, but it didn't mean that it didn't go unnoticed by his nether regions. She didn't even have to put in that much effort to make him painfully aware that he was a man.

She sat down at the coffee table after she had grabbed a book. The two of them often spent their nights together quietly in each other's company. Sasuke found that Sakura really enjoyed reading. He would often sit and watch her, or find an interesting book out of her vast collection to read himself. Other times she didn't mind that he checked his ninja gear, or made sure Kusanagi retained a sharp edge. Sometimes Sasuke would listen to her tell him stories, or ramble on about different things.

However, this did bring Sasuke a good idea of how to present Sakura with his gift in what he felt was the perfect way.

"I'll make us some tea." Sasuke decided, getting up from the couch. Sharing who made tea and become common between the two, and he was familiar with where Sakura kept everything now. More so than he was in his own apartment.

"Okay." Sakura mumbled, her face still in a book. She had been reading a book that really engrossed her attention recently, and Sasuke was glad for it. It would make her less likely to notice his intentions.

He went into the kitchen to grab the tea cups and start the kettle to boil hot water. He waited patiently for the water to steam and whistle before he poured it into the tea kettle to steep. Peeking over to Sakura, he could tell that her attention was still into the book.

As quietly and carefully as he could, he pulled the box out of his pocket, and pulled the necklace out. Even if Sakura could hear him walking back into the living room, he knew that she wouldn't catch up off guard as she most likely assumed that the tea would be done.

However, Sasuke kneeled behind her, and as fluidly as he could, almost making it seem effortless, he wrapped the gold chain with the pendant around her neck and clasped it behind her. When Sakura gasped, he smirked, knowing that he had surprised her.

"I-What-It-Wow." It seemed that Sakura was at a loss for words as her small hands flew up to finger the necklace and pendant that lay proudly around her neck. The fact that the tips of her ears were red gave away that she was blushing like crazy.

"Sasuke it's…"Sakura began. "It's beautiful. What-"

"I want you to have it." Sasuke began, cutting her off. "It's a promise." he added. The room fell silent. This caused the Uchiha to become a little nervous. What was Sakura thinking? Was making a promise to her too much? Had this idea been too much?

Sakura closed her book, finally speaking. "You're leaving again, aren't you?" She asked quietly. Sasuke noticed that she was still playing with the pendant, a flush on her cheeks. Sasuke knew that this subject would have to be brought up sooner or later. He was just hoping later, but perhaps his gift have made her suspicious.

"Yes." Sasuke finally admitted. Sakura turned to face him. While it seemed that she had been happy, the look of disappointment was still evident on her face. Their eyes met, onyx glued to viridian. His longer bangs that were swept to one side began to hide is rinnegan.

"I had a feeling." Sakura confessed.

The room fell silent as they gazed at each other. Sasuke was trying to decipher what the pinkette was thinking as he couldn't read her like he usually could.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura began, tightening her hold on the pendant. "Thank you for this…" she trailed off. Sasuke was caught off guard though when she looked like she was about to cry however.

"I've upset you." Sasuke stated, feeling unsure of himself. Part of him was panicking. He was desperately hoping that he hadn't just ruined everything.

"No, I knew… it's just that…" Sakura choked. "I'm the one who's been selfish. I've harbored these feelings so long, and I know that it's never been the easiest for you. You've already given me so much and yet." She looked away, breaking their eye contact. "I want more. I want all of you."

Sasuke couldn't help but frown. Her, selfish? The fact that this woman would think that of herself was _annoying_! Not only that, but he knew what the underlying insinuation of her words meant. She was challenging his self control.

"Sakura." Sasuke started, bringing his right hand to her face, caressing it affectionately. He willed her to look at him again, her beautiful viridian eyes locking with his. He was able to clearly see her emotions, and it only caused his resolve to cement even more. He wanted Sakura. He wanted her to be his forever.

He brought his lips down to hers, at first in a soft, longing kiss, waiting for her to respond. It didn't take long as she moved her hands into his hair, tangling her fingers into his longer and spiky tresses. She pulled herself closer to him in an effort to deepen their kiss, their tongues now plunging into each other's mouth and they began to battle for dominance. Sasuke could feel Sakura's heart pounding in her chest, though his ears were ringing from the pounding of his own.

They broke apart only for a moment to catch a breath of hair and for Sakura to situate herself on Sasuke's lap unabashedly before she brought her lips to his again. Sasuke placed his right hand on Sakura's left thigh, and he could feel her skin turn into goosebumps under his touch. He almost smirked into their kiss, but then Sakura reacted by snaking her hands under Sasuke's shirt, her fingertips ghosting over his abdominal muscles, sending a pleasurable shiver down the Uchiha's spine. His skin felt hot where she had touched him, and he could feel his boxers becoming uncomfortable.

Sasuke pulled his mouth away. "Come." his voice was throaty and low. Sakura could detect the tone of his desire however and it sent butterflies into the deepest pit of her stomach. Without another word, Sasuke grabbed her bottom as he stood up with Sakura wrapped around his torso. Sasuke could tell that she was wearing panties, not that they would be there for long.

He began to head into Sakura's bedroom, and dropped her unceremoniously onto the bed, causing it to bounce a couple times. She let out a small gasp as he did, but her gaze met his.

Sasuke's eyes locked with hers and he was surely going to drown. He was coming undone faster than he could ever anticipate as the sultry look on Sakura's face clearly displayed the sexual tension that had been building between them. Her nightshirt had scandalously ridden up to barely cover her womanhood, and her hair was messily splayed on the bed. The glow of the moon on her porcelain skin only served to amplify her beauty further. It didn't matter how many times Sasuke had thought that she was beautiful. She never failed to stun him over and over again. His heart was pounding erratically in his chest, and he could feel that his face was hot. Sasuke quickly pulled off his black shirt, tossing it on the floor before moving to lean over Sakura and continue their foreplay.

Instead of claiming her lips again,this time he decided to pay attention to the crook in her neck, his hot breath fanning against her neck and ear and he kissed her softly. It caused the pinkette to let out a soft moan that drove Sasuke wild. In response, his soft kisses became a little harsher as he began to suckle on her neck. Sakura's breathing was becoming loud and heavy.

"Sasuke-kun." She moaned. Her hands were roaming over his chest and back, and it was only creating more tension for Sasuke. In an effort to distract himself from her touches, he grabbed her left hand, sitting up and pulling her along with him as he claimed her lips once again. He right hand and fingers played with the bottom of her nightshirt, wanting to pull it off of her body. It wasn't long before she helped him do it herself.

She hadn't been wearing anything to restrain her breasts underneath, and Sasuke takes a moment to look over her mostly naked, petite feminine form. Her breasts were creamy and round, her rosebud nipples erect. She looked absolutely delectable, and Sasuke could feel his growing need becoming unbearable.

All logic was about to be thrown out the window as Sasuke's natural instincts began to take over. The urge to consume Sakura, and dominate her was becoming an uncomfortable ache in his ego and his private regions.

He claimed her lips again hungrily, pushing down into the bed again. Sasuke moved to leave a trail of butterfly kisses down her jaw, her neck, and collarbone as she moaned softly in response until he reached her breasts. He had never so much as played with those parts of a woman before, but had heard plenty of stories from others. He let his instincts kick in. They were pert and tempting as he lowered his mouth onto one of them, eliciting a loud gasp from Sakura again as he began to suck and lick the sensitive spot.

"Nnnngh." Sakura's back arched as she let out a throaty moan in reaction. Her response served to boost Sasuke's ego as he moved onto the other breast, giving it equal attention as he had to the first one. Sakura was a hot mess under him, and he liked it.

After giving both breasts ample attention, Sasuke began to kiss his way down Sakura's taunt stomach. He moves to begin kissing her thighs, worshipping every part of her body. When he kisses the inside of her thighs however, he smelled something sweet, and almost addicting, his body reacting to it. His instinct was to rip his pants off and take her then and there.

"Sasuke-kun." Sakura breathes, bringing him back down to earth for a moment. Her eyes meets his again, and this time he sees a sinful desire in them.

"Sakura." Sasuke asks, his voice strained. "Are you sure you want this?" He was holding onto the last inches of his self control.

"Yes." She breathes hotly. "Please." she begs.

Without another word, Sasuke pulled the panties from Sakura's hips, sliding them down her legs slowly before they are discarded on the floor with the other garments, getting the first few of her womanhood. He could already tell that she was super moist down there based on the wet spot on her panties.

He slowly reached down with his hand, touching her softly at the opening which elicited a gasp from the pinkette. Her womanhood was warm, and wet. She clearly had taken the time to landscape down there as well, which Sasuke found he liked.

Without warning, Sasuke inserted a digit into Sakura's warm wet cavern causing her to squirm.

"Oooooh" Sakura moaned much louder this time, her breathing shaky as she suddenly became shy. "Sasuke that's-" She tried to close her legs in her embarrassment but Sasuke pushed against her, preventing her from doing so.

"Don't." he commanded. She was so tight and wet around his finger.

The heat in his lower belly was beginning to become unbearable. He wanted to rip his pants and boxers off, and climb on top of Sakura and bury himself inside her, but his ego dictated that he make her putty in his hands first. He had heard about the female orgasm, and how to give one, but as a virgin, Sasuke had never done it before. Like everything however, he had a need to do it right the first time.

He waited for her to relax before he began to move his finger, pumping it in and out. Sakura was moaning loudly in response, allowing Sasuke to slip a second finger into her. He had heard about a bundle of nerves that made women come, and sought it out with his thumb. Sakura jerked when his thumb grazed it, and it was obvious that he had found the right place. He began to tease it with his thumb. He could feel her becoming even wetter, and the walls of her cavern beginning to tighten.

"Ahhhn-" Sakura moaned. "Oh I'm going to- aaahhhh" She was far from quiet as her whole body began to quiver, and Sasuke felt the walls of her womanhood convulsing around his finger as she reached down and tangled her fingers in his hair as she came.

Craving for the same kind of attention that he had given Sakura, Sasuke pulled away from her, licking the fluid from his finger as he did. Her scent and taste were intoxicating him mercilessly at this point. He pulled his pants and boxers off with one fluid motion, letting his manhood spring free. It was bulging and erect from his desire. Sakura's eyes widened. How was something that big supposed to fit down there?

Sasuke could tell by her reaction that this was definitely her first time. He knew that he would have to be gentle until she became accustomed to him.

They didn't need words as Sasuke climbed on top of Sakura once more, kissing her softly as he manhood touched Sakura's wet hot slit. Knowing that Sasuke couldn't hold his weight and reach down to position himself, Sakura reached down to take his hot member, grasping it curiously.

It was so hard but felt silky soft. Sakura watched as Sasuke blushed furiously as she guided him to her opening.

Sasuke pushed in slowly, going in only a couple inches. He couldn't help but let out a low groan at how good it felt. He knew that going in all the way would be painful for Sakura. She let out a little squeak as he had entered her, but waited for her to relax. When she did, Sasuke swiftly plunged in all the way, hiding his face in the crook of her neck, unable to hold back a pleasurable moan as he buried himself completely inside Sakura.

She felt so good. She was so tight and wet as his well endowed manhood stretched her to the limit.

She let out a small whimper of pain, clamping her eyes shut as she tried to get used to the feeling of something foreign inside her, willing the ache to go away.

Sasuke gritted his teeth in restraint. His body was begging him to create friction like a wild animal, but he didn't want to hurt Sakura.

Sakura's eyes had teared up, and Sasuke immediately sought to kiss them away with instinct, feeling a pang of guilt at her discomfort. For a moment, he allowed himself to think that he was undeserving of her, and how he was so selfish in taking something from her he could never give back. He couldn't believe that this was happening, and the nervousness of making their first time a decent experience was driving him crazy. Maybe he should have asked that dobe about it, but his pride dictated that he would never do that, not in a million years.

He waited patiently, too shy to look Sakura in the face as he listened to her breathing. He could feel her body somewhat relaxing however.

"Sasuke-kun." she breathed softly. Her voice demanded his attention as he looked at her. Without mercy, every intimate and deep feeling that she harbored for him assaulted him. For a moment, he was speechless at the concrete evidence of his own feelings they invoked.

He was absolutely in love with this beautiful woman.

He loved Sakura Haruno.

Understanding the expression she had given him, he began to move slowly within her, the friction creating an achingly sweet pleasure that he had never felt before in his life. He pulled himself out slowly, letting himself sink back into Sakura slowly as well, which caused the woman beneath him to moan.

She was so tight and slick, and it made Sasuke want to create that sweet friction even more. Experimentally, he began to quicken his pace, listening for any sounds of discomfort from Sakura, but lost in the bliss of the way her womanhood wrapped around his cock made him feel. Sasuke felt tension begin to build in his body as his member became even more sensitive as he continued his pace.

Sakura began to moan even more, and Sasuke could tell that her body was responding as he could feel her walls begin to contract around him. As if her moans were almost encouraging, Sasuke's pace began to quicken even more, as he thrust into Sakura, causing her fingers to dig into his back.

"Uhn, Sasuke -" She moaned. "Oooohh.."

She reached up to his face, bringing it down so his lips could meet hers, and almost immediately their kisses became a battle for dominance with their tongues. The friction and heat between them was becoming almost unbearable for Sasuke as that pressure in his lower belly was now burning fiery hot. His muscles were beginning to tense. In an effort to stifle his groans, Sasuke decided to pay attention to the crook of Sakura's neck again, leaving angry little nips which caused the pinkette to gasp.

He needs her to come. Sasuke could feel himself on the verge of release, getting dangerously close to teetering on the edge. He begins to quicken his pace again, this time slamming himself into Sakura.

"Yes, Sasuke-kuun." Sakura moaned, all of her previous notions of discomfort gone. In an effort to create sweeter friction, she began to buck her hips towards him, trying to meet his pace eliciting a low growl from the Uchiha. He could feel her walls around him now beginning to contract more rhythmically, pushing Sasuke even closer to the edge. Sakura began moaning even louder as Sasuke continued his pace, the sound of their wet skin slapping against each other filling the room along with Sakura's moans and Sasuke's grunts. Sakura's womanhood was now beginning to squeeze Sasuke's cock tightly as he thrust into her a few more times.

"Oooh Sasuke I'm going to -" Sakura began, but before she could finish her orgasm came ripping through her body as she almost screamed in her orgasm, screaming his name as her walls contracting tightly and rhythmically around Sasuke, bringing him over the edge and sending him into his own orgasm as he let out a guttural growl as he released his hot seed into Sakura. He moaned as he rode out his orgasm in Sakura, the waves of bliss rushing over him as her orgasm milked him for every bit he had to offer.

Only the sound of their heavy breathing filled the room as they both came down from their high, Sasuke still sheathed inside Sakura's heat.

It isn't until Sakura kisses him softly that he brought down to reality from the pure bliss that he has experienced that he kisses her back, gently removing himself from her as he positions himself beside her, facing her.

"I love you, Sakura."

* * *

I'm just going to go hide in a cave and not come out EVER. This is the first lemon that I have ever written, so if it sucks, I am sorry!

Because I feel that my next plot point would be the perfect plot point to end this little multi chapter fanfiction on, there is only going to be one more chapter left! It is going to address the question that was mentioned earlier in this chapter, and should tie up any loose ends!

I want to thank everyone that has supported this little fanfiction of mine as I have written this, and I hope that you will look forward to the final chapter of Under the Rising Spring. I am always trying to improve my creative writing! I will be turning my attention towards my other fanfiction, Ascension that is also SasuSaku after I finish the final chapter!

Please leave a review! I always like to hear your thoughts and constructive criticism on my writing.

Thanks!


	9. Posterity

Here we are, to the final chapter of Under the Rising Spring!

I really want to thank everyone for the support that you have given me with this fanfiction! I hope that I will continue to improve my writing and create more stories that you guys will continue to read!

Also, can I just mention that we are finally getting somewhere really interesting with the Boruto anime? I mean, I haven't had super high hopes for it, but I've been interested enough to still stream it on my VRV app weekly, and we are finally getting into the arc that Boruto the Movie was based on. I wonder how exactly they plan to adapt it into the anime? And what changes they plan on making to it. They already added a third Otsotsuki character, so this will be interesting. Also, how about that new ending? I just downloaded the full version of the song and it is just stuck on repeat! It was beautifully done! For the most part, I have been pretty optimistic about Boruto despite all the complaints that I have read about it. I'm really hoping that it becomes a good story on it's own!

* * *

Chapter IX: Posterity

* * *

Their first time was the floodgates that almost had kept Sakura and Sasuke holed up at her place for the remainder of time that Sakura had taken off work. For someone who hated showing affection in public, the person that Sasuke was when they were intimate was a whole different experience. He was possessive and dominant, and had been a quick learner of how to send her hurtling to cloud nine. Just thinking about it made Sakura's cheeks flush a red shade. The bliss that Sakura felt when she was with Sasuke was addicting, and the fact that she had to return to work and leave Sasuke to his own devices was putting a damper on her mood.

Sakura wasn't exactly shocked when she returned to her office to see that her medical paperwork she had left waiting to be done had nearly doubled while she had been taking a small break. Nevertheless, it didn't stop her from letting out an exasperated groan. When she had walked back into the hospital, everyone excitedly greeted her, but Sakura could just not muster up that same excitement they had. She usually did, but right now she really wanted to just be with Sasuke… however, maybe the break was a good thing. While they had been together, Sakura didn't dare bring up the subject that ate at her in the back of her mind. When was Sasuke going to leave again? And where exactly would that leave their new found intimate relationship? The thought of being away from him for days, months, and even years threatened to tear the seams of her heart apart. This new step in their relationship still came with some insecurities that she probably wouldn't be able to entirely overcome for a little while.

How would she be able to approach him about it?

Settling herself at her desk, Sakura grabbed her favorite pen and pulled the first paper she had to look over in front of her. She was glad that she wasn't on duty today since she had to go work at the children's mental clinic later in the afternoon, so she was going to have to get through as much paperwork as she could, and try not to think to hard about Sasuke, though it was going to be difficult, for more reasons than one.

The hours seemed to go slow, despite the fact that Sakura was able to get through the majority of the paperwork that she had to file and look over. She had grinded away at them, hoping that they would keep her distracted, and in some ways, they did. The morning had finally sunk away, and Sakura realized that it was lunchtime, and probably time she headed over to the mental clinic. She hadn't seen Ino in a while, and she was sure that Ino would probably have a million questions to ask her, though Sakura would be happy avoiding her best friend's interrogation. Ino wasn't exactly the type that was quite about things.

After leaving her office in a satisfying organized manner, Sakura left the hospital, bidding farewell to the other hospital staff, somewhat surprised to see a dark dressed figure that she instantly recognized waiting for her right outside the hospital. Sakura couldn't stop the immediate flutter in her heart and flush to her cheeks upon seeing Sasuke.

"Hey Sasuke -kun, I didn't know that you were going to drop by." Sakura greeted, smiling at him. He turned to her the moment he heard her voice, his face lightening from his usual stoic facade upon seeing her.

"I wanted to see you." He replied.

"You saw all of me this morning." Sakura giggled. Sasuke might has well had been living with her at this point, and he was less than happy that she had to leave him to go to work this morning.

"It's lunch time." Sasuke diverted, ignoring the fact that the pinkette was teasing him.

"Where do you want to eat?" Sakura asked, knowing that this was Sasuke's way of saying he was taking her out to lunch.

"Wherever is fine."

Sakura knew that she wasn't going to get a different answer as Sasuke began to walk off with her following beside him.

"What have you been doing today, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, making conversation as they headed towards the market.

"I sparred with Naruto this morning." Sasuke replied. "Which I'm regretting."

"Why?" Sakura asked, despite the fact that she knew that it was because Naruto had most likely bugged Sasuke for details about the two of them.

"Hn. He's an idiot." Sasuke grunted, which only confirmed Sakura's suspicion. Those two were still so easy to read like a book. They really hadn't changed too much.

"If it makes you feel any better, I know that Ino is going to bug me once I step foot into the clinic after lunch." Sakura replied, amused.

They stopped in front of Sakura's favorite dango shop as this was usually the place Sasuke took her anyway. They quickly went in to order take out before heading out towards the clinic. Sakura was okay with this. She would walk somewhere quieter than try to sit and eat in a noisy place with Sasuke who wasn't much of a crowd person to begin with. There was silence between the two as Sakura ate, though she could feel a tension between them. Had Sasuke been thinking about the same thing that she had?

"Hey Sasuke-kun, thank you for lunch." Sakura began, breaking the silence. The weather today really was beautiful as it was sunny and warm. It was definitely Spring.

"Ah."

"I was thinking... " Sakura began tentatively, "That we should talk. About you going away I mean. Not like right now but -"

"Sakura." Sasuke tried to interject, but she continued to ramble on.

"Maybe like after I get off work or something -"

"Sakura." Sasuke said again, his tone a little more rough, getting her attention.

"It's just… I -"

"We will talk about it. Later." Sasuke confirmed. "I know you've been wanting to talk about it. Since that night." he added.

"O-okay."

The children's clinic was now in view as the two of them stopped a few feet in front of it.

"I'll see you later tonight." Sasuke said, his tone softer, but his expression stoic. However, Sakura could see that there was some sign of distress in his eyes.

"Okay Sasuke-kun." Sakura replied, not wanting to make him feel any worse. "Thanks again for lunch."

She gave him a smile, waving to him as she hurried inside the clinic.

* * *

Sasuke watched as Sakura's retreated form disappeared behind the doors of the children's clinic that she had started with Ino Yamanaka.

He had a feeling that as soon as she would return to work, she would probably bug him about his leaving, as she probably didn't want to get into that discussion while they were just enjoying their time together.

While Sasuke had thought that sparring this morning would help him get his mind off of that, and the fact that for the first time in his life, he really didn't want to be apart from Sakura, Naruto only succeeded in doing what he does best - pissing him off as his best friend.

 _"Well, look who crawled out from under a rock." Naruto teased. Sasuke had been sitting at their favorite training ground, Kusanagi in his grip as he sat with his legs crossed waiting for the dobe to show up since they had agreed to spar as soon as Sakura returned to work._

 _"Hn."_

 _"Seriously though, I was beginning to worry." Naruto continued. Sasuke knew that he was still teasing him, and his patience and tolerance for it was less than existent._

 _"Is that because you've never lasted that long?" Sasuke insinuated, raising himself up from off the Earth. Immediately Naruto's face flushed red from embarrassment at how quickly this conversation had turned around._

 _"Whoa, okay wait, wait, wait -" Naruto began, almost as if he was clueless "You mean you and Sakura-chan -" This was immediately followed by Naruto making fake gagging noises at the idea of his two friends doing it. This elicited a death glare from the Uchiha, and Naruto could obviously feel the murderous like aura from him. He was so immature sometimes._

 _"I mean whoa dude, like, I'm happy for you guys and all, you know?" Naruto finally said in earnest. He was rubbing the back of his head, his usual tell tale sign of his discomfort on topics. "I mean, I can't blame you, it's the best feeling in the -"_

 _At this point, Sasuke was quickly stalking off towards the middle of the training grounds. Sex was the LAST topic that he had any interest in talking to Naruto of all people about._

 _"Hey Sasuke wait!" Naruto called out, chasing after the quick moving Uchiha._

 _"So you guys are… really serious now, aren't you?" Naruto asked. As much as Sasuke didn't want to talk about it, he could tell by the tone of Naruto's voice that he was just being his nosy concerned friend._

 _"It's what Sakura wants." Sasuke replied nonchalantly._

 _"Well that's been obvious for some time." Naruto sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes at him. "But you know that's not what I meant."_

 _"I want Sakura to be happy."_

 _"Again, your dodging the meaning." Naruto argued._

 _"She's more than I deserve." Sasuke added. "But she chose me anyway."_

 _"Have you talked about leaving?" Naruto began, changing the topic. It was obvious that Naruto wasn't going to get any more elaborate answers from him, and settled for what he already knew. Sasuke was happy that Sakura had chosen him and still does._

 _"No, but I know she's going to bring it up."_

 _"Well you know Sasuke, you can't just bed a girl and leave her." Naruto joked, though he was dead serious. This caused a serious scowl on the Uchiha's face as if he was challenging Naruto to step out of line one more time and see what happens._

 _"That's really none of your business." Sasuke growled._

 _"No, not really, but you know that's not how I do things anyway, especially when it comes to my two best friends. Are you really planning on leaving her behind this time?" Naruto asked seriously. "Especially after that?"_

 _Sasuke stopped, as if the gut wrenching feeling he had been trying to numb seared through his being. The thought of not being with Sakura in that way, of not seeing her…_

 _It was damn right terrifying to the point that Sasuke felt almost frustrated at just how attached he had become to Sakura._

 _However, Sasuke Uchiha was a logical being._

 _"I can't ask that of her. Not for me." Sasuke admitted. Naruto frowned._

 _"You don't have to."_

 _"I don't know how long it will take, but you, Kakashi, and I all know that I am the only one who can do this."_

 _"Sakura does too. Have you thought of that? Have you thought about the fact that maybe she wants to support you? That she doesn't want you to be alone? Sakura is the type of girl that she would tolerate her loneliness, but she thinks only of you!"_

 _There was silence between the two while they stood opposite of each other, almost in a stand off before Naruto continued._

 _"Sasuke…" Naruto began. "You should ask Sakura to become your wife."_

 _Sasuke was surprised at the bluntness of his friend. Did Kakashi put him up to this?_

 _"Look, I know it's not really any of business and all, as you seem to enjoy reminding me of that, but I think what you and Sakura need is to get out of Konoha… and I think that there is absolutely no way you would do that without her being your wife."_

 _Sasuke was a little taken aback at the sincerity of Naruto's words, especially since the two of them typically liked to duel it out to display their feelings, but he knew that this wasn't something that Kakashi had put him up to._

 _The universe was cruel sometimes, but Sasuke could feel the deep desire in his heart winning._

 _Without further conversation, the two began to spar._

No matter how much Sasuke tried, he couldn't get that conversation out of his mind. This whole time he had been back, Naruto had been cheering him on, bugging him to move forward with his relationship with sakura, and trying to help him despite the fact that his ego disliked it.

Would it be better to just get this conversation he knew he was going to have with Sakura over with?

While the pinkette was a very understanding person, her patience and temper was something that not even he or Naruto would tamper with. On more than one occasion he's heard Naruto mumbling about never pissing her off again in fear of her brutally tearing him apart. While Sasuke found it amusing, there was truth behind it.

Would she even agree to his terms though? Would it be too soon for her? Sasuke hated when he felt insecure.

He didn't know why, but the idea of her travelling with him as just a girlfriend just didn't seem right. Not to mention, his pride dictated that it be made clear in some way that she was his, and that he would protect her tooth and nail. There was really only one way that he felt would even serve as a warning to others - he wanted Sakura to wear his clan's symbol, the uchiwa fan, on her back proudly displayed.

* * *

Sakura sighed, trying to regain her composure as the doors closed behind her as she disappeared into the clinic and out of Sasuke's sight. His gaze was so intense sometimes, almost as if he could see through everything and it made her feel as if there was nothing she could hide from him.

She was a little frustrated at herself now for pushing the subject of him leaving. Sasuke was not the type of man to be pushed into something, and she knew that, however, it was just eating at her. She had been okay with him leaving the first time, but to be honest, she didn't know if she could handle it this time, not after everything they've done. Not after the fact that not only did she give all of herself to him completely, but he had done the same. Not after coming this was eating her alive.

"Well well well," a familiar voice sounded. "I see you've come back to light of day."

Sakura looked up to see Ino with a mischievous smirk on her face. Sakura groaned.

"I was dreading coming into the clinic today, just so you know." Sakura complained, causing Ino to feign an offended expression.

"What why? Why would you dread seeing me?" She snickered. "But of course you're giving me all the details! It's obvious you and Sasuke did the dirty!" She exclaimed, almost too happily. This caused the pinkette to immediately clamp her hand over Ino's mouth.

"Ino, shut up!" Sakura threatened, her face red with embarrassment. "There's children here!"

"So what! I never get to see you! It's not like the kids know." Ino whined, pulling Sakura into her office and shutting the door.

"There, now spill. Please tell me the famed Uchiha is good in bed! You're practically glowing!"

"Ino!"

"What? I mean come on Sakura! After all, us women deserve to be absolutely pleasured by our men."

Sakura was positive her best friend had no shame. She had to thank the gods that Sai had fallen in love with her because she could be far from easy to deal with, even though it hasn't changed her love of juicy gossip.

"I don't know, he's the only one I've ever been with. It's still so new." Sakura admitted quietly.

"Was it his first time?"

"Oh my god, Ino. Why are you asking me that?"

"Because I'm curious! I think it's so cute if you were each other's first time!"

"Well… I think so. I guess I didn't ask." Sakura sheepishly admitted.

"Seriously? You didn't ask? I mean did it seem like he knew what he was doing?"

"Um…"

The sound of knocking at the door couldn't have come at a better time as relief washed over Sakura. Ino huffed before opening the door, mouthing a silent 'we are not finished' to Sakura.

"Miss Haruno, Miss Yamanaka, your patients are here!" Their receptionist informed them.

"Okay, tell them we will be right there!" Sakura replied, giving Ino a look.

"Your off the hook for now forehead." Ino teased, as she exited the office after the receptionist. It was indeed time to get to work.

Sakura had forgotten that today she would be seeing Mika-chan for the first time since running into her at the market. It seemed like it had been quite a while since she had seen the little girl.

Walking into her patient room, she found the young girl sitting quietly on her favorite chair in the room, humming to herself. However, her face lit up with excitement upon seeing Sakura.

"Haruno-san! You're back! Are you not sick anymore?" She asked as if genuinely concerned. Sakura realized that even during the week she had been back before taking time off after the cherry blossom festival, she hadn't had the chance to see Mika-chan. It really had been a long time. Obviously, Mika-chan was kept in the dark about the truth of her condition.

"Oh yes, I am feeling much better! I am sorry I've had to be away for so long! I've missed seeing you!" Sakura exclaimed, happy.

"I missed you too! Though I heard that handsome guy you were with at the candy store is your boyfriend! How come you didn't tell me before?" Mika huffed. The look on her face was cute as she tried be frustrated. Sakura laughed.

"Well, we weren't together yet. I guess a few things have happened. Who told you?"

"I heard some of the other boys talking about it! They said that he was really cool and want to be cool like him some day!"

"Is that so? I guess he is pretty cool." Sakura grinned. The honesty of little kids made Sakura happy.

"Do you think you guys will get married someday?" Mika asked. Immediately Sakura's heart felt like it skipped a beat.

"Um, I don't know." Sakura answered. It was strange how one question from a young child could suddenly make you wonder and question things. "I don't think either of us are quite that far into things yet. Marriage is something that two people who really know each other and want to be together do."

"Don't you want to be together forever though? You're the prettiest girl I've ever met!" Mika asked, genuinely puzzled. What would be the best way to explain such a thing to a little girl?

"Mmmm… I do love him. A lot." Sakura admitted, smiling. "To me, he's my special person I've always wanted to be with."

"Even before you were boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Yes. He's someone that I have cared about for a long time."

"You really love him! I can tell." Mika confidently deduced. Sakura chuckled.

"Someday Mika-chan, you will understand all this yourself when you find someone special… but now, we need to get to work! Tell me what's happened these last few weeks!"

This little girl reminded Sakura of something that she had wanted since she was a little girl.

She had always wanted to become Sakura Uchiha.

* * *

The anxiety and insecurity about all the questions and feelings swirling around in Sasuke had been hindering him all day.

He was casually leaning against the wall of the children's mental health clinic waiting for Sakura to finish up so that they could go home together. It was their routine.

Naruto had given him a lot to think about today.

Sasuke had decided that when Sakura brought it up next, so long as it was in private, they would get the conversation of him leaving over with, but he dreaded it. He didn't want to hurt her. He wasn't sure if he would be able to handle her disappointment, or making her cry if she did.

Not only that, but now he was questioning something else entirely to top it off.

Would Sakura even want to marry him?

Sasuke was getting lost deeper in his own thoughts, not realizing that Sakura had walked out of the clinic, noticing him.

"Sasuke-kun! Thanks for waiting." She greeted as she came over to him.

Sasuke was immediately snapped out of his own thoughts upon hearing her voice, though he could detect a slight apprehension to it.

"Let's go home." He stated, pushing himself off of the wall that had been supporting him.

"I'm definitely hungry!" Sakura admitted, trying to keep the atmosphere light. Sasuke waited for her to lead the way.

"We can cook dinner." Sasuke suggested. Sakura began to walk in the direction of her apartment with Sasuke in tow.

"Mmmm… sounds good. What did you do this evening?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing much. I looked over some stuff regarding my clan." That was a bit of a lie. Sasuke had spent the evening mostly in deep thought trying to sort his mind out.

"Well, I guess that makes sense." Sakura agreed.

"How was work?" Sasuke asked, glad that she didn't ask more about his evening.

"The usual. Remember that little girl we ran into at the candy shop a few weeks back? I saw her today. I guess she found out from some of the other boys that you are now my boyfriend." Sakura chuckled. "She kept asking if we were going to get married someday."

Sasuke about choked on his own spit. The universe really did hate him.

"What… did you say?" Sasuke asked, trying to keep his composure.

"Well… I mean, I guess… well it wasn't easy to explain… I told her that marriage is something that two people who really love each other and want to be together do."

"Ah."

"But you know, it's not something I'm opposed to doing young… If I knew that person was the only one for me."

Sasuke's heart felt like it was going to rip cruelly out of his chest. Sasuke didn't even know how to respond to that. They walked in a tense silence for a little while before Sakura spoke again, her voice quiet.

"Sasuke, what about you? Would you ever… want to get married someday?" Sakura's voice was shaking a little. Sasuke could tell that it was a nerve wracking question for her to ask him, but she did anyway.

"It's not something I've thought a ton about." The disappointment was so clear on Sakura's face that Sasuke couldn't directly look at her, "but maybe someday." he added, almost hastily. If only he could make her understand.

"Oh." Sakura's reply was barely above a whisper.

They were at her apartment now, as she unlocked the door for the both of them. They went in, taking off their shoes and things before Sakura headed into the kitchen without a word. Sasuke could tell that he had upset her. He knew that wasn't probably the answer that she wanted.

"You said… we could talk about you leaving." Sakura brought up calmly as she began to work on making tea.

"Yes. I did." Sasuke sighed. This probably wasn't the best time to have this conversation, even if they were in the privacy of Sakura's apartment… but he guess he couldn't be surprised given his response on the prospect of marriage.

"How soon?" Sakura asked. Sasuke frowned at her shortness and bluntness.

"I haven't really planned that yet… but sooner than later, Sakura." Sasuke answered.

"Especially since that time?" Sakura asked. Sasuke knew she was referring to the incident a few weeks ago. Sakura was smart enough to pick up on those things and what they meant.

"Yes. You know I can't stay knowing that something like that is out there." Sasuke confirmed. So far, Sakura hadn't become distraught over this conversation, but he knew that if things continued she most likely would.

"I know that, but you have zero intentions of taking me with you, don't you?" Sakura accused. She refused to look at Sasuke, and Sasuke could only guess it was because she didn't want him to see the expression on her face.

"You have a life here, Sakura." Sasuke stated. That was clearly the wrong thing to say.

"What does that matter Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura snapped. "I might be a good medic ninja, but being a ninja and working isn't my only goal in life!" Well, saying she was a good medic ninja was a little bit of a understatement. Sakura was a renowned medic ninja, and it was almost silly to Sasuke that she would refer to herself so little in that way.

"I know it's not." Sasuke replied, trying to keep his composure as the frustration began to build.

"Then why do you refuse to take me with you?!"

"It's not that simple, Sakura." Sasuke sighed, frustration now evident as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Your wrong! It is!" Sakura challenged. Sasuke hated the way that he both liked and disliked the way this annoying woman challenged him.

"It's not! It's not a life a luxury, there's constant danger, and it's not something-"

"I don't care about that!" Sakura quipped. "Don't you think I already know that?!"

"Then you know that you are better off here! You're safer here." Sasuke argued. The mention of her safety seemed to have calmed Sakura down a little as if she was seeing a little bit of his reasoning, but she was a stubborn woman.

"You're being selfish!" Sakura accused quietly, catching the Uchiha off guard. What did she mean selfish? Couldn't she see that his reasoning for everything he did was because of her?

"Sakura I-"

"Have you stopped to consider what I want? And yeah, I'm selfish too - believe me, I know I am. I know that what I want prevents me from being somewhere where I can save so many lives…" Sakura trailed off. "But I'm a person too. I have a life to live too!"

Sasuke was losing this battle. It seemed that he was always losing this battle with Sakura.

"You know I can't ask this of you." Sasuke growled in frustration, rubbing his temples with his right hand.

"You're not. I'm asking this of you, Sasuke-kun." Sakura begged quietly. "I don't want to be seperated from you anymore. Please, don't leave me behind."

Damn this _annoying_ woman. She broke through every wall that he carefully placed. He couldn't even really argue that she couldn't hold her own out there. The truth was, no matter how much the logical side of Sasuke begged him to oversee it, he didn't want to be apart from Sakura either.

"Sakura," Sasuke began. He took a deep shaky breath in as he knew what he was going to say betrayed every logical and reasonable thought he ever had. Sakura wore a fierce expression on her face, but the calmness of his voice and tone caused it to change to a softer one. "I have one condition if you won't take no for an answer." This was the condition that he had firmly set, but with her breaking down her walls and demanding to be a part of his life, this was the only way he could agree with it.

Sakura's face lit up, almost in relief and a little bit of confusion as she waited for him to tell her his condition.

"Marry me."

* * *

Sakura wasn't sure how long she stared at Sasuke, and she was pretty sure that her mouth was gaping like a fish out of water with no sound or words coming out.

Sasuke's expression was dead serious, but she could see the insecurity and anxiety as clear as day in his eyes. For the first time in her life, her mind was blank, as if it just couldn't process the two words that her ears had just heard out of her lover's mouth.

The silence and standstill seemed like an eternity before all of a sudden it seemed like Sakura's mind jumpstarted.

"Y-you want me to-" Well, maybe, she still couldn't form logical sentences. "I- what- I thought- I"

Sasuke began to seem slightly amused at her being speechless.

"You want me to be your wife?" Sakura almost squeaked as she finally formed a coherent sentence.

"If you want to do this with me, then marry me Sakura." Sasuke repeated.

"I thought it wasn't something you-"

"I lied. If I told you the truth, there would have been no chance at convincing you." Sasuke admitted, "though it seemed that it was a futile attempt anyway." he added in a grumble. It seemed like there was a long silence before Sakura answered him, though in reality it was only the span of a few seconds. Sasuke felt hot.

"Then yes!" Sakura replied, her voice quivering. Sasuke looked at her and swore he saw the most beautiful smile, though she was crying.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm crying it's just… I-I" Sakura sobbed. She felt Sasuke grab her, pulling her to him as he wrapped his right arm around her small frame.

"Sakura," Sasuke said softly, letting her sob into his chest. "Thank you."

* * *

"You're serious?" Kakashi asked, almost in disbelief that both Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha were standing in his office, asking him to marry them.

"Yes." Sasuke confirmed.

"Kakashi-sensei, I know I'm asking a lot but I-"

"No, Sakura, don't worry about it." Kakashi interjected. "To be honest, I'm relieved. We will find suitable replacements for you. You do not owe your happiness to the village, Sakura."

"I know… but I can't help feel… at least a little selfish." Sakura replied.

"When do the two of you plan to leave?" Kakashi asked, in all seriousness. He watched as Sakura and Sasuke's eyes met for a brief second before they both turned their attention to him. He had always known that there was something about the bond that these two shared, though it was much more obvious when it came to Sakura.

"As soon as possible." Sasuke began. "There's not really any reason for us to stay here any longer than we have to."

"Well, I'm sure that might have been a different story if the two of you weren't going together." Kakashi observed, eliciting a glare from the Uchiha, even if the statement was true. Sasuke would have definitely lingered longer, and doing so would have made things even more difficult with Sakura.

"Well, Sasuke's not a problem, but at best, I can probably clear up Sakura's duties in a couple weeks. Luckily, lady Tsunade already agreed to come back and help out in case this did happen." Kakashi revealed.

Sasuke couldn't say that he was surprised that Kakashi had already thought out a way to deal with this possible scenario.

"You did?" Sakura asked, almost in disbelief. She would have to have a conversation with her master before she left.

"I did… In terms of your wedding though…" Kakashi continued, moving to a different topic.

"We don't want anything big." Sakura began, giving a quick glance to Sasuke before continuing. "Honestly, we would have been fine with eloping but… I know Naruto would never let us live it down."

"True." Kakashi agreed. "Do you have a day in mind? Luckily for you guys, I don't have any missions set up for Naruto right now, and I can send someone else in Hinata's place for the time being."

"Do you think we could, later today?" Sakura asked. Kakashi was a little surprised at the suddenness of their timing. "We want you to marry us."

"Clearly you two have talked about this? Have you already talked to Naruto and Hinata about it? What about your parents, Sakura?" Both Sakura and Sasuke nodded. "Figures. I will clear up my schedule. I'm honored that you want me to. Though, I can't say I'm not curious how your parents took it." Kakashi added.

"Actually, surprisingly well." Sakura said, giving a small laugh. "In the end, they just want me to happy." It was a little bit of a lie, but Sakura didn't really want to go into all the details at the moment. Her parents weren't exactly thrilled that she planned to leave the village with the infamous Sasuke Uchiha, and were somewhat surprised, but after Sakura was able to talk to them about everything in honest, they had decided to agree to everything.

"Good. Okay, do you have a place in mind?"

"We were thinking up on Hokage mountain. It's a good view of the city, but also I don't think we will be bothered there… we want a night ceremony."

"Okay. Well then, I guess that puts the time around eight. You two better go get ready then. Don't worry about the paperwork for it. I will get it ready and have you both sign it before you leave."

"Thank you." Sasuke said. He was honest in giving it.

"I'm happy, for you both." Kakashi replied. Sakura and Sasuke gave him a bow before leaving his office.

Kakashi couldn't help but think that this was definitely their style.

* * *

"I'm really happy for you, Sakura-chan." Hinata said, helping Sakura into her white wedding Yukata. Since Sakura didn't want to be seen going through town in it to avoid raising suspicion, the girls decided that they would get ready up on the mountain in the small storage building that was located up there.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan." Sakura replied, smiling.

"I am glad that your feelings were able to reach your special someone." Hinata continued as she tied Sakura's red Obi around her waist, fastening it. While their wedding was in so sense traditional, Sasuke did request that they wear more traditional clothing. It was a custom in his clan, and Sakura couldn't help but agree. Not that anything about their relationship was traditional to begin with.

"I honestly… can't believe it's happening. It still feels a little like a dream." Sakura admitted. Hinata had curled her hair prior to them coming up here as Sakura had wanted it pulled back with strands left to frame her face. While short hairstyles left less options, she still wanted to do something special.

"I think that it's great, that you are going to travel together. It suits you both I think." Hinata encouraged, beginning to work on Sakura's hair. Her mother had given her a special hair pin to wear that she had worn herself. Honestly, Sakura was a little surprised that her parents didn't want to be a part of the wedding, but they understood the intimacy that this wedding held. Her mother promised they would celebrate later.

"I'm a little nervous though." Sakura revealed.

It seemed that Hinata was going to say something else, but a knock came at the door.

"Hina-chan, is Sakura-chan ready? It's time!" Naruto's voice was easily recognizable.

"Dude, I can't believe you are basically eloping!" Naruto exclaimed. This was the first, and probably the last time he would ever be helping Sasuke Uchiha dress. It wasn't exactly the preference of either of them, but it's rather hard to get dressed in something as elaborated as a wedding yukata on your own. The two preferred to just pretend like it wasn't a big deal.

"Just be lucky Sakura convinced me to invite you." Sasuke snorted, teasing his friend.

"Like I'd miss this for anything!" Naruto scoffed. "I'd hunt you down!" Sasuke knew that he literally meant that too.

"Hn."

"Seriously though, I'm glad you are taking Sakura-chan with you. I can't believe you actually manned up and asked her!" Naruto chuckled, while Sasuke shot him a glare.

Sasuke had decided to donn a blue yukata with the symbol of his clan embroidered on the chest of it. Hinata had been so kind of embroider it for him. In this sense he wanted things to be traditional.

The two stayed silent until Sasuke was fully dressed. They didn't necessarily need to speak a ton in order to know what the other one meant. The fact that Naruto and Hinata were the only ones outside of Kakashi to be invited to their wedding spoke volumes of how much Sasuke valued their friendship, even though he was unable to attend theirs.

"Well, I'm going to go see if the ladies are ready. I'm proud of you, Sasuke." Naruto said, in a seriousness. "So make Sakura-chan happy! Or I really will have to kick your ass for real!" He added as he walked off. Sasuke smirked. Naruto always had to try and get the last cool word in.

Sasuke made his way over to the little spot that they had decided to get married. The view of Konohagakure was breathtaking to say the least with the sun setting behind them. A few more minutes and it would disappear behind the forest mountains in the distance. Hinata had managed to get a few arrangements of flowers from the Yamanaka flower shop without them suspecting anything, and Sakura had wanted candles to be lit and decorate the area. He couldn't be more grateful that his future wife had wanted something so simple. It reminded him yet again of why he loved Sakura Haruno.

"Yo." Kakashi said, almost as if appearing out of nowhere.

"It's not like you to be on time." Sasuke greeted. This caused the silver haired man to give a small laugh.

"Well, as fond as I am of being fashionably late, this is important after all." Kakashi replied.

"It is." Sasuke agreed. He watched as Kakashi reached to pull something out of his pocket and Sasuke immediately dreaded what he was almost sure it was.

"So I was thinking-" Kakashi began but he was quickly cut off by Sasuke.

"No way in hell." Sasuke replied, his face flushing red. The famous dirty books that old man was into was in no way going to give him pointers on how to pleasure a woman.

Luckily before Kakashi could continue that conversation any further, Naruto came running up to them.

"Okay, Hina-chan and Sakura-chan are going to be coming any minute now." He said. "Dude, Sakura-chan looks beautiful."

Almost as if on cue, both Sakura and Hinata appeared and Sasuke for a moment couldn't breathe.

Sakura looked absolutely otherworldly. Sakura had always been beautiful in her simplicity and exotic features, and she was about to be his.

She was about to become Sakura Uchiha.

Sasuke couldn't believe that they were here. That he was here in his life. If it wasn't for her or Naruto, he would have never known this feeling that took over his whole being as he did in this moment. For the first time, he felt at peace and a flutter of excitement in his heart.

"Sakura." He called her name as he reached his hand out to her that she took as she came closer to stand beside him. Hinata found her place beside Naruto as they stood off to the side to witness them.

"Okay, let's start." Kakashi began. "I Kakashi Hatake, the sixth hokage of Konoha, am here to preside over the union of Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno in becoming husband and wife, and one family. May you both be a pillar of strength to each other, find comfort in each other, and fill each other's existence with love. Do you have vows to exchange?"

Sasuke had almost completely tuned Kakashi out as he was lost in Sakura's beauty until she gave his hand a squeeze. Crap, the vows. Sasuke Uchiha was not really a man of words, but he would say how he felt to Sakura, at least verbally on this day.

"Sakura. You know that I am a man of few words, but I promise you - I will protect you with all that I am, both body and soul. I can't promise that I will always be a perfect husband, but I promise to give you all I have. I love you."

Sakura's face was flushed, her eyes glossy from tears that were probably threatening to spill. Sasuke knew those words meant more than he probably realized to her.

"Sasuke, I have always loved you. I have always known the good person you are deep down. You are someone so precious to me. I promise to always love you, and take care of you. I promise to always support you and be there for you. I promise to always be a home you can come back to, and to be a light on your darkest days. I promise to share all your burdens with you. I promise I will do all that I can to make you happy."

The sincerity in her words sent Sasuke's heart racing, thundering in his chest. She had said much more to him that he had to her, but nevertheless, Sasuke knew that those few words were more than enough for Sakura.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, I pronounce you husband and wife."

Sasuke leaned down to kiss Sakura, who now shared his last name. He didn't care that Naruto, Hinata and Kakashi were there to witness it.

Sakura was his wife.

He was going to spend all night treating her like a goddess.

They broke apart from the kiss, to see everyone grinning at them.

"What are you waiting for, take her home Sasuke!" Naruto teased, clearly implying something less than innocent. Sakura playfully punched him in the arm, though Sasuke had half a mind to knock the idiot out for real.

"We've been married less than a minute Naruto!" She scolded. "Treat your wife. She worked hard today, you know?" This caused both Naruto and Hinata to blush.

"Your vows were beautiful." Hinata congratulated. "You make a beautiful bride, sakura-chan."

"I couldn't have done it without your help, Hinata-chan. Thank you so much." Sakura replied, pulling her raven haired friend into a hug.

Naruto went to pat Sasuke on the shoulder in a brotherly gesture. Sasuke gave him a small smirk.

Kakashi had been happily watching him former students. They really had created something out of themselves. He had never been prouder of who they all had become.

"Kakashi sensei, thank you." Sakura thanked as they turned their attention to him. Sasuke shot him a knowing glance. Kakashi didn't expect for the Uchiha to verbally thank him, but knew that he was.

"I'm happy, for all of you. You have all made me proud." Kakashi admitted, smiling underneath his mask. He meant it.

Chatting for just a few more minutes, Naruto, Kakashi, and Hinata encouraged Sasuke and Sakura to get going. It was completely dark now, and they had to clean up the flowers and candles after sending the newly married couple off.

It was a bit unceremonious, considering that Sasuke only had one arm, but he grabbed an unsuspecting Sakura, pulling her up over his shoulder as she squealed and laughed. She had a second to wave before Sasuke flash stepped them home. It was dark, so the chance of them being seen was fairly slim.

When they arrived into Sakura's apartment, Sasuke carried his new wife to their bedroom, gently laying her on their bed. Her hair was a little disheveled from the speed in which he got them home, but she still looked absolutely beautiful.

"Sakura." Sasuke said, his voice almost coarse as he kissed her. His desperation and need were clear in the way he kissed her. Sakura couldn't help but immediately respond, her desperation and need matching his.

"Sasuke-kun. I love you. Thank you, for making me so happy." Sakura said as she continued to kiss her husband. He stopped for a moment however, pulling slightly away from her to rest his forehead with hers, both their breathing heaving.

"No Sakura, thank you… for everything." Sasuke confessed, his eyes locked with her viridian ones. "I meant it. I promise to love you with everything that I am."

Sasuke resumed kissing her. He had zero plans of sleeping any time soon.

Sakura was his. She was everything that he needed, and Sasuke was excited to start his life with her. He knows he isn't deserving of everything she is offering him, but he can't help but feel lucky at the fact that he had a second chance. He had no idea that this woman who he had meant as a somewhat vain and selfish, naive girl had turned into a strong, smart, capable and beautiful woman who was now his wife.

Meeting Sakura Haruno had changed his life forever.

* * *

Ugh, well I'm hope that this wasn't a totally terrible ending guys! I decided that I might add a small prologue of them leaving on their adventure, depending on whether or not you, the readers would like one!

I hope that I was able to convey the proper emotions through this chapter.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to read Under the Rising Spring. It has certainly been an interested journey as my first fanfiction story! I know that I probably have made you suffer through reading plenty of grammatical errors, but I am hoping to continue improving my creative writing.

Please leave your final thoughts and reviews!

Until next time,

-RayneAurelie


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